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PHILIP D. MURPHY
Governor
State of New Jersey
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
DEPARTMENT OF LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY
DIVISION OF LAW
GURBIR S. GREWAL
Attorney General
SHEILA Y. OLIVER
Lt. Governor
PO Box 45029
Newark, NJ 07101
MICHELLE L. MILLER
Director
August 11, 2020
via e-mail
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Freedom of Information Act Office
451 7th Street, SW, Room 10139
Washington, DC 20410-3000
Facsimile: 202-619-8365
Phone: 202-708-3054
Dear FOIA Manager:
The Office of the New Jersey Attorney General, the State’s chief law enforcement
officer, submits this Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to obtain records related to
President Trump’s recent statements that the presence of affordable housing in a community
causes its crime rates to increase.
Background
On July 23, 2020, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) abruptly
issued a new rule titled “Preserving Community and Neighborhood Choice,” which repeals a
2015 rule adopted to affirmatively further fair housing (the 2015 AFFH Rule) in accordance with
the Fair Housing Act (FHA) mandate that HUD programs and activities be administered “in a
manner affirmatively to further” the FHA.
Following HUD’s announcement, President Trump tweeted, on July 29, 2020: “I am
happy to inform all of the people living their Suburban Lifestyle Dream that you will no longer
be bothered or financially hurt by having low income housing built in your neighborhood…Your
August 11, 2020
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housing prices will go up based on the market, and crime will go down. I have rescinded the
Obama-Biden AFFH Rule. Enjoy!”
1
The two tweets containing this message are reproduced below:
These tweets echoed a similar statement by President Trump earlier in July 2020, when
he told supporters that, under the 2015 AFFH Rule, “Your home will go down in value and
crime rates will rapidly rise. … People have worked all their lives to get into a community, and
now they’re going to watch it go to hell.”
2
The President’s statements were notably devoid of any reference to data to support his
claims.
3
In fact, publicly available data and studies tell a different story. For example, a recent
study in the Journal of Political Economy found that housing developments taking advantage of
the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) cause “declines in both violent and property crime
within low income areas” and “do[] not increase crime in high income areas.”
4
Another study,
from 2015, similarly found that “[p]roducing LIHTC housing in distressed neighborhoods
positively impacts the surrounding neighborhood” in terms of “increased safety,” and that
1
See https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1288509568578777088 and
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1288509572223651840.
2
Ashraf Khalil, “HUD Revokes Obama-Era Rule Designed to Diversity the Suburbs,” Associated Press (July 23,
2020), https://apnews.com/f504f9073e9400aa14e04b2b498843d9.
3
E.g., Kristen Holmes, “Fact-check: In Repealing Obama-Era Rule, Trump Makes False Claims About Low-Income
Housing, Crime and the Suburbs,” CNN.com (Aug. 3, 2020), https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/03/politics/fact-check-
trump-low-income-housing-suburbs-crime/index.html (There is no evidence or data to back up Trump’s claim that
Obama’s AFFH affected home prices and crime rates before President Trump took office.”).
4
Rebecca Diamond and Tim McQuade, Who Wants Affordable Housing in their Backyard? An Equilibrium
Analysis of Low Income Property Development, 127 J. Pol. Econ. 1063 (2019).
August 11, 2020
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creating LIHTC housing in “higher opportunity neighborhoods” has “no impacts on crime.”
5
And a 2013 study of how affordable housing developments affected the suburb of Mount Laurel,
New Jersey found that “the opening of affordable housing development was not associated with
trends in crime, property values, or taxes.”
6
In light of this information, and given the New Jersey Attorney General’s role as chief
law enforcement officer in the State, we are seeking any records that provide a factual basis for
the President’s statements.
Requested Records
Please promptly produce all of the following records:
a. Without date limitation, all research, studies, or data analyses that provided the
factual basis for the President’s July 2020 statements regarding the effects of the 2015
AFFH Rule and/or affordable housing on crime rates; and
b. From January 1, 2020 until the date on which the agency commences its search for
responsive records, all e-mails, memoranda, briefings, or any other written
communications exchanged between HUD and the Executive Office of the President
that relate to the 2015 AFFH Rule; and
c. From January 1, 2020 until the date on which the agency commences its search for
responsive records, all e-mails, memoranda, briefings, or any other written
communications exchanged between HUD and the Executive Office of the President
concerning the impact of affordable housing on crime rates.
Fee Waiver Request
The Office of the New Jersey Attorney General requests a waiver of document search,
review, and duplication fees because “disclosure of the [requested] information is in the public
interest.” 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(A)(iii); see also 24 C.F.R. § 15.106(k). Disclosure “is likely to
contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the
government,” because of the substantial public interest in low-income housing and its effects on
crime. 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(A)(iii). Disclosure also “is not primarily in the commercial interest
of the requester.” Id. This Office does not have any commercial interest in the requested
information; it seeks these records in its capacity as an agency of a State whose residents could
be affected by the government operations and activities in question. The Office of the New
Jersey Attorney General may make records obtained from this request available to the public at
no cost.
5
Keri-Nicole Dillman, et al., The What, Where, and When of Place-Based Housing Policy’s Neighborhood Effects,
27 Housing Policy Debate 282 (2017).
6
Len Albright et al., Do Affordable Housing Projects Harm Suburban Communities? Crime, Property Values, and
Taxes in Mount Laurel, NJ,” 12 City & Community 89 (2013).
August 11, 2020
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If our request for a waiver is denied, the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General is
willing to pay all reasonable fees incurred in responding to this request, up to $50. If the costs of
responding to this request should exceed that amount, please contact us before incurring any
additional costs.
Contact Information
Please direct any response to this request to the following e-mail address: gov-
[email protected]. I appreciate your assistance and look forward to your prompt response.
Sincerely,
GURBIR S. GREWAL
Attorney General
State of New Jersey
25 Market Street, Box 080
Trenton, NJ 08625-0080
MAYUR P. SAXENA
Assistant Attorney General
State of New Jersey
124 Halsey Street
Newark, NJ 07101
609-775-5846
