Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

A. Title VI prohibits all recipients of federal financial assistance from discriminating based on race, color, or national origin. Title VI applies to any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance, not just housing. Each federal agency has its own Title VI regulations. Thus, owners must remember that if they receive funds from any other federal agency, they will be subject to those agencies’ Title VI rules, in addition to HUD’s Title VI regulations, which are found at 24 CFR, part 1.

B. In housing, Title VI and the Fair Housing Act apply to many of the same types of activities. However, HUD has broader investigative authority in complaints related to violations of Title VI and the authority to impose different types of remedies than it does in cases involving violations of the Fair Housing Act.

C. Title VI regulations require that recipients have an affirmative obligation to take reasonable steps to remove or overcome any discriminatory practice or usage that subjects individuals to discrimination based on race, color, or national origin. The regulations also require that, even in the absence of prior discrimination, recipients should take affirmative steps to overcome the effects of conditions that results in limiting participation by persons of a particular race, color, or national origin.

D. Title VI regulations also require that owners maintain racial and ethnic data showing the extent to which members of minority groups are beneficiaries of federal financial assistance.