Washington victorious over HUD’s attack on fair housing protections

Washington and other states have secured relief from unlawful conditions the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) attempted to place on funds state and local agencies use to enforce fair housing laws.

The legal win protects federal funding for Washington under the Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP) to support efforts to protect residents from housing discrimination. In recent years, FHAP funds to the state have ranged from approximately $180,000 to $365,000 annually.

"HUD abruptly and unlawfully tried to upend a decades-long partnership with the state to protect people from housing discrimination," Attorney General Nick Brown said. "Our state was promised these funds to help ensure that Washingtonians of all backgrounds are treated fairly in searching for a place to call home."

In March 2026, the coalition filed a lawsuit challenging unlawful conditions in HUD's Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 FHAP Funding Guidance, which could have limited state and local agencies' ability to enforce their fair housing laws, including by restricting reimbursement for certain fair housing complaints and threatening agencies that enforce protections beyond those in federal law. HUD threatened to decertify and cut off funding from state agencies unless they stop enforcing crucial protections against housing discrimination based on sexual orientation, veteran or military status, gender identity, language, criminal records, and source of income.

Now, HUD has conceded to the coalition's challenge, agreeing to a dismissal of the lawsuit based on HUD's confirmation that it would not seek to impose, implement, or enforce the challenged conditions in the future and that the FY 2025 Guidance is no longer in effect. A letter from HUD also confirms the conditions will not apply to FY 2026 FHAP funding and that HUD does not plan to include them in future guidance.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul co-led the March 2026 lawsuit. In addition to Brown, the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia also joined the lawsuit.

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