Washington wins appeals court ruling against HUD over housing assistance programs

In a decisive win for Washington and other states, a federal appeals court rejected the federal government's request to impose harmful restrictions on grant funding that allows tens of thousands of formerly homeless people across the country to remain in stable housing.

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown co-led a multistate coalition in suing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) last November after HUD abruptly changed its Continuum of Care program, the largest resource for federal homelessness assistance funding. HUD dramatically reduced the amount of grant funds that can be spent on permanent housing and put unlawful conditions on access to the funding.

U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy sided with the states in December, saying HUD's actions would cause irreparable harm to the plaintiffs, and issued a preliminary injunction barring HUD from implementing the unlawful restrictions. On April 1, the appeals court rejected HUD's request to temporarily allow the restrictions to go into effect.

"This is a victory for our neighbors who rely on these programs to find stability and get back on their feet," Brown said. "HUD's actions would have made our homelessness crisis even worse. This ruling will bring relief to many people who worried they might have nowhere to live."

The appeals court said plaintiffs had provided ample evidence that if HUD moved ahead with its planned restrictions to the funding, the results would be "immediately destabilizing and disastrous for their constituents."

Washington receives about $120 million in these grants annually, with most of it going to the five counties with the greatest need for housing services-King, Pierce, Snohomish, Spokane, and Clark counties. The remaining $25 million is distributed by the state to Washington's other 34 counties, which are largely rural.

A copy of the appeals court judge's ruling is available here.

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