Two insurance industry trade groups recently filed suit in federal district court to contest the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s final rule formalizing its “disparate impact” interpretation of the Fair Housing Act, which asserts that housing policies and practices can be deemed discriminatory not only through their intent but also by their effects. The rule, issued in early February, formally establishes the three-part burden-shifting test for determining when a practice with a discriminatory effect violates the Fair Housing Act. The American Insurance Association and the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, whose members sell homeowners insurance, challenged...