AG Brown Sues HUD Over Fair Housing Enforcement Funding

WA Attorney General News Releases

Filed March 16th, 2026

Detected March 17th, 2026

Summary

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown joined 15 other attorneys general in suing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The lawsuit challenges HUD's recent guidance threatening to withhold funding from state and local fair housing enforcement agencies that continue to enforce state laws protecting against housing discrimination.

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What changed

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, leading a coalition of 15 other state attorneys general, has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The suit challenges HUD's September 2025 guidance, which threatens to decertify and cut off federal funding (approximately $180,000 annually for Washington) to state and local fair housing agencies, including Washington's Human Rights Commission. This action is in response to these agencies enforcing state laws that provide protections against housing discrimination based on criteria such as sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, criminal records, and source of income, as well as disparate impact claims.

The coalition alleges that HUD's actions are unlawful, violating the Spending Clause and the Administrative Procedure Act, and aim to undermine the federal-state partnership for fair housing enforcement. The practical implication is that state agencies may be forced to choose between enforcing critical state-level fair housing protections and receiving federal funding. This lawsuit seeks to prevent the weakening of fair housing enforcement nationwide and the potential increase in housing discrimination. Regulated entities, particularly those involved in housing, should be aware of this legal challenge and its potential impact on enforcement priorities and funding for fair housing agencies.

What to do next

Review state fair housing laws and compare them against HUD's September 2025 guidance.
Assess potential impact of funding threats on state and local fair housing enforcement agencies.
Monitor legal proceedings and any potential court orders impacting HUD's guidance.

Penalties

Threatened withholding of federal funding from state and local fair housing enforcement agencies.

Source document (simplified)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Mar 16 2026

Attorney General Nick Brown and a coalition of 15 other attorneys general filed a lawsuit challenging unlawful actions by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), including threats to withhold funding from state and local fair housing enforcement agencies for abiding by state laws.

These actions threaten to weaken fair housing enforcement across the country and undermine states’ ability to ensure equal access to housing. If unchallenged, discrimination in housing is almost certain to increase.

“Washington is a state that stands up for the rights of its residents, including protecting them from discrimination in housing,” Brown said. “This is a blatantly unlawful attempt by HUD to force our state to walk away from making sure people have a fair shake at securing a place to live.”

Sixty years ago, Congress enacted the Fair Housing Act to address pervasive housing discrimination. Congress also created a robust partnership between HUD and state and local agencies, known as the Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP), to enforce this landmark civil rights law in tandem with state fair housing laws. The FHAP has had strong bipartisan support in Congress and stable funding since it was established in 1980.

In their lawsuit, Brown and the other attorneys general allege HUD is seeking to illegally undermine this partnership by attacking states’ ability to combat housing discrimination under state laws by their residents’ democratically elected representatives.

Through the FHAP, HUD refers allegations of housing discrimination to state and local partner agencies for investigation and enforcement. These agencies use HUD funding for a variety of services, including to process and investigate housing discrimination complaints, enforce anti-discrimination laws, train staff, and support community outreach and education. In Washington, the Human Rights Commission (HRC) is the agency responsible for investigating and enforcing housing discrimination complaints, which have totaled more than 170 annually in recent years, with about half of those complaints referred to the HRC from HUD.

In September 2025, HUD issued guidance to HRC and partner agencies in other states, threatening to decertify them from the program and cut off funding 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. The guidance also bars agencies from pursuing claims targeting housing practices that may appear neutral but, in reality, are discriminatory and have a disparate impact on certain populations. In Washington and many other states, these fair housing protections are enshrined in state law.

In addition to the threat to decertify partner agencies, HUD is attempting to impose vague, ideologically motivated, and unlawful conditions on program funding. In Washington, at least approximately $180,000 per year in federal funding is in jeopardy.

The coalition asserts that the administration’s actions will raise the costs of enforcing state and federal fair housing laws in their states. They also argue that HUD’s vague conditions will sow confusion over enforcement.

The attorneys general note that this unlawful ultimatum comes after HUD gutted its own fair housing enforcement capabilities by slashing its headcount and significantly reducing the number of housing discrimination cases it charges. The agency also fired employee whistleblowers after they publicly sounded the alarm about its decimation of fair housing enforcement.

The coalition’s lawsuit alleges that HUD’s guidance violates the Spending Clause of the U.S. Constitution and the federal Administrative Procedure Act, which governs how federal agencies implement rule changes.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul are leading the coalition. Joining Bonta, Raoul, and Brown in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaiʻi, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

A copy of the complaint is available here.

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