Thursday, December 11, 2025HUD Launches Fair Housing Investigation into Boston’s Race-Based Housing Plan

Washington, D.C. - Today, the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) notified the City of Boston that it has initiated an investigation into the City's so-called "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" (DEI) housing practices, which HUD believes violate civil rights protections under the Fair Housing Act and Title VI.

"We believe the City of Boston has engaged in a social engineering project that intentionally advances discriminatory housing policies driven by an ideological commitment to DEI rather than merit or need," said HUD Secretary Scott Turner. "HUD is committed to protecting every American's civil rights and will thoroughly investigate the City's stated goal of 'integrating racial equity into every layer of city government.' This warped mentality will be fully exposed, and Boston will come into full compliance with federal anti-discrimination law."

This investigation follows HUD's letter to the Mayor's Office of Housing, notifying the City that HUD had reason to believe Boston was using HUD grant assistance in violation of its legal obligations, which prohibits race-based preferences.

Examples of the City's racially discriminatory housing plan are below. Read the full letter notifying the City of Boston of HUD's investigation here.

• Social Justice Homebuyer Outreach: "The City's Fair Housing Assessment promises to 'target homebuyer outreach' at 'Black and Latinx families.' Accordingly, the assessment tasked the Mayor's Office of Housing (MOH), the City of Boston Planning Department (BPD), and the Boston Housing Authority with collecting racial and ethnic data 'to evaluate their work through a racial equity/social justice lens.'"
• Racial and Sex-Based Quotas: "The 'Boston Housing Strategy 2025' announced that 'at least 65%' of opportunities to buy homes through City of Boston initiatives' should go to 'BIPOC' [black, indigenous, or person of color] households. The policy is clear: financial housing assistance is not just for all low-income persons but instead 'particularly BIPOC residents.'"

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