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Through this Proposed Rule, HUD seeks to eliminate the tester restrictions for Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) grantees currently contained in 24 CFR 125.107(a), and for Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP) grantees currently contained in 24 CFR 115.311(b), which forbid FHIP and FHAP grantees from using fair housing testers with prior felony convictions or convictions of crimes involving fraud or perjury. HUD makes this proposal in accordance with Secretary Marcia Fudge’s April 12, 2022 Memorandum, Eliminating Barriers That May Unnecessarily Prevent Individuals with Criminal Histories from Participating in HUD Program, to make HUD’s programs as inclusive as possible for people with criminal records and to ensure that FHIP and FHAP grantees are able to fully investigate potentially discriminatory criminal background screening policies by using testers with actual criminal backgrounds. HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) heard from FHIP stakeholders on three occasions from 2022-2023 regarding their concern about the need to remove the criminal records barrier from the relevant regulations due to its negative impact on fair housing enforcement efforts. FHEO also received written communication from these stakeholders in 2022 describing the barrier and how it thwarts their fair housing testing efforts.