The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has proposed a new rule that would provide a legal safe harbor for landlords that use algorithms to decide whom to rent to. As written, this rule is an invitation for landlords to make unfair decisions with impunity, using black box algorithms as an excuse. A letter from ORCAA CEO Cathy O’Neil making this argument was read into the record of the US House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services hearing “Equitable Algorithms: Examining Ways to Reduce AI Bias in Financial Services.” The official hearing page is linked; the full text of the letter is available here.