Insurance 301 Sullivan Way, West Trenton, NJ 08628 NJM Group 609-883-1300, Ext. 5828 /
[email protected] KATE 110, ESQ. Assistant Vice President & General Counsel August 20, 2018 Paul Compton General Counsel Department of Housing and Urban Development 451 Seventh Street SW, Room 10276 Washington, DC 20410-0001 Re: Reconsideration of HUD's Implementation of the Fair Housing Act's Disparate Impact Standard, 24 CFR Part 100 [Docket No. FR-6111—A-01] RIN 2529—ZA01 Dear General Counsel Compton: New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Company ("NJM") appreciates the opportunity to comment on the Department of Housing and Urban Development's ("HUD") advance notice of proposed rulemaking referenced above. The rule in question extends disparate-impact liability to the provision and pricing of homeowner's insurance and creates a burden-shifting framework for assigning liability in private lawsuits and government enforcement actions premised on the existence of a disparate impact. NJM is a property and casualty insurance provider headquartered in West Trenton, New Jersey. Founded in 1913, NJM currently offers homeowners, umbrella, personal auto and commercial auto insurance to policyholders in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and workers compensation insurance in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland and Delaware. HUD has requested comments to determine what changes, if any, are appropriate following the decision in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc., 135 S. Ct. 2507 (2015) which details certain standards and constitutional limitations on disparate impact claims. Initially, NJM maintains that application of the disparate impact rule to homeowners insurance is inconsistent with the state-based regulation of insurance, and with general principles of actuarially-based ratemaking.