NEW YORK, NY, August 27, 2026 — A federal judge on Wednesday prevented the Trump administration from making major changes to a grant program for fair housing. The ruling prevents HUD from using the funding to displace 100 nonprofits. Those groups have long investigated national complaints of housing discrimination.
In July, HUD announced it would not disburse 2025 funding as it did previously to private enforcement groups. Instead, the agency originally intended to focus $46 million of $56 million on just five grants. One of those grants, which was to be for $25 million, was allocated to a law school.
The Court’s Reasoning
An additional $10 million would have been distributed to a state or local government agency. That was in stark contrast to previous years when it funded more than 100 nonprofits. Under the previous system, grants per organization generally comprised between $75,000 and $425,000.
The Broader Housing Rights Dispute
HUD failed to justify its proposed funding overhauls across the board, U.S. District Judge Myong Joun in Boston wrote. He pointed out Congress established the Fair Housing Initiatives Program in 1987 to help enforcement nonprofits. Joun ordered HUD to disburse funds using the same framework that it had used for the previous year.
The judge also struck down HUD’s attempts to attach ideological policy strings directly onto grant awards. Those conditions would prevent beneficiaries from working on projects related to gender identity or immigration status. Joun said those limits had nothing to do with the program’s basic anti-discrimination mission.
The lawsuit was filed by the Massachusetts Fair Housing Center and the National Fair Housing Alliance, as noted in the Relman Colfax Case Summary. That funding landscape was going to change if HUD had had its way, said Vineeth Hemavathi, executive director of the Massachusetts center.
The ruling prevents the restructuring process while the wider court case proceeds, a key development detailed in the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse Record. Program particulars and grant histories are archived under the HUD Exchange Fair Housing Initiatives Program Overview. You can read more about housing rights protections at the National Fair Housing Alliance Website.
