Fair Housing Groups Nationwide Will Stay Open After Federal Court Ruling
Judge vacates HUD’s funding overhaul that would have reduced fair housing services and closed nonprofits’ doors
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
WASHINGTON—A federal judge today blocked a HUD plan that would have radically altered a decades-old fair housing grant program and defunded more than 100 private, community-based nonprofit fair housing enforcement organizations, which between them handle three in four housing discrimination complaints filed in this country. HUD’s plan would have caused some fair housing organizations to go out of business and others to lay off staff, significantly reducing their services to people experiencing discrimination and housing insecurity.
Judge Myong J. Joun of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted a temporary restraining order sought by the National Fair Housing Alliance and the Massachusetts Fair Housing Center, represented by the national civil rights law firm Relman Colfax. The order vacates HUD’s FY2025 funding notices and directs the agency to distribute the money using the structure it used a year earlier.
“When someone is wrongfully turned away from a housing opportunity because they have experienced domestic violence, because of a disability, their gender, or the color of their skin, they don’t call Washington. They call the fair housing organization in their community. HUD tried to shut the doors of the frontline groups who fight housing injustice and today a federal court emphatically said ‘no,'” said Lisa Rice, President and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance. “This ruling means the people who answer that call are still going to be there to answer it and serve people desperately seeking protection from unlawful housing discrimination.”
Congress intentionally established the Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) to fund the private fair housing enforcement organizations to advance the law in the communities they serve. However, HUD’s plan, which the court set aside, would have funneled the bulk of the FY25 fair housing funding into five large awards reserved for applicants willing to align with the Administration’s political priorities, and away from the community-based organizations that actually do meaningful fair housing work helping complainants throughout the country. HUD zeroed out two of the program’s primary funding streams: the Private Enforcement Initiative, which pays for the investigations and testing that prove discrimination happened, and the Education and Outreach Initiative, which funds efforts to ensure people know they have rights in the first place. It then imposed rules that effectively disqualified private nonprofit fair housing organizations across the board from the federal funding that makes their work possible. Had HUD’s changes gone forward, fair housing groups from Massachusetts to Memphis would have either been forced to close their doors for good, or implement steep cuts to services and staff layoffs.
“We opened in 1989 with one of the first fair housing grants this program ever made, and we’ve never stopped advancing fair housing. HUD’s plan would have ended that,” said Vineeth Hemavathi, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Fair Housing Center. “Today’s ruling means the people who need us in the state still have somewhere to turn.”
The court found HUD failed to adequately explain what it was doing or account for the costs it was imposing on organizations that have relied on this funding for decades and the communities that depend on their work. While HUD claimed that it was modernizing and strengthening the FHIP program, the judge found this explanation “belies credulity” in light of the actual effects of HUD’s action and that HUD’s stated reasons were “pretextual.”
“We are pleased with the Court’s decision, which rightfully recognizes the stakes at issue and protects the rule of law,” said Lila Miller of Relman Colfax.
This is the third time this Administration has come after FHIP, the primary funding for fair housing enforcement organizations, and the third time a federal court has stopped it. In March 2025, a court ordered HUD to reinstate FHIP grants it had terminated for more than 60 organizations. That June, another court enjoined HUD’s refusal to administer the FY2024 FHIP appropriation.
The case isn’t over. Today’s order covers the FY2025 notices, where relief was urgently needed because those notices are excluding fair housing organizations from funding right now. HUD has also released FY2026 notices that would unreasonably exclude fair housing organizations through various means. NFHA and MFHC are asking the court to set those aside as well and ensure the fair housing funding program will be implemented as Congress intended.
Today’s ruling is a victory for fair housing enforcement and the rule of law. It ensures private nonprofit fair housing organizations will be able to continue making the promises of the Fair Housing Act real for everyday people who get illegally turned away from housing and lending opportunities.
Read our July release announcing the lawsuit and request for a temporary restraining order.
For media inquiries: contact Jglover@Nationalfairhousing.org.
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About the National Fair Housing Alliance
The National Fair Housing Alliance leads a coalition that works to build inclusive, well-resourced, and resilient communities; expand equitable opportunities; and end housing discrimination.
About Relman Colfax PLLC
Relman Colfax PLLC is one of the nation’s premier civil rights law firms committed to advancing justice through high-impact litigation, legal counseling, and strategic advocacy.
About the Massachusetts Fair Housing Center
The Massachusetts Fair Housing Center (MFHC) is the oldest fair housing organization in Massachusetts. It was founded in 1989 by legal aid attorneys and shelter advocates. MFHC is located in Holyoke, MA and serves all of Western and Central MA.