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BALTIMORE, MD - Attorney General Anthony G. Brown and a coalition of 20 states filed a lawsuit today claiming that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is unlawfully upending support for tens of thousands of Americans experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity with abrupt changes that will limit access to long-term housing and other services.
HUD is drastically changing its Continuum of Care grant program in violation of congressional intent by dramatically reducing the amount of grant funds that can be spent on permanent housing and project renewals and putting new, unlawful conditions on access to the funding. HUD seeks to require providers to enforce the Trump administration’s views on issues of gender identity, force residents to accept services as a condition of housing, and punish providers in localities that do not enforce strict anti-homeless laws, all barriers that are in contrast to HUD’s previous guidance and Congress’ approval.
Previous changes to the grant conditions have been made incrementally to avoid disrupting providers’ ability to provide housing and budget for their programs in advance. These wholesale changes will create administrative chaos and likely result in thousands losing housing.
“These unlawful policies will force more than 4,000 Marylanders out of their homes,” said Attorney General Brown. “We’re filing this lawsuit to stop these reckless changes from pushing families onto the streets.”
For decades, HUD has helped local and regional coalitions plan and coordinate housing and services for people experiencing homelessness through Continuum of Care grants, which were created by Congress. Providers pair these grants with other funding sources and rely on the predictability and continuity of the grants to support the unhoused.
HUD has a longstanding policy of encouraging what is known as a “Housing First” model that provides stable housing to individuals without preconditions like sobriety or a minimum personal income. These policies have proved successful in improving housing stability and public health while reducing the costs of homelessness to individuals and their communities.
Previously, HUD has directed approximately 90% of Continuum of Care funding to support permanent housing, but the agency’s new rule – which Congress never authorized – would cut that by two-thirds for grants starting in 2026. Similarly, HUD has long allowed grantees to protect around 90% of funding year to year – essentially guaranteeing renewal of projects to ensure that individuals and families living in those projects maintain stable housing. But HUD has slashed this figure, too, to only 30%. These new policies virtually guarantee that tens of thousands of formerly homeless people in permanent housing nationwide will eventually be evicted through no fault of their own when the funds aren’t renewed. Maryland’s Department of Housing and Community Development has estimated that, statewide, the 30% cap on permanent housing will result in more than $45 million in cuts to permanent housing projects and more than 4,000 individuals losing housing assistance.
Additionally, HUD is planning to require applicants to enforce the Trump administration’s notions of gender identity, de-prioritize services to people with mental health issues or substance-use disorder, and discriminate against localities whose approach to homelessness differs from the administration’s.
The complaint alleges HUD violated its own regulations by not engaging in rulemaking before issuing the changes and violated the law by instituting these new conditions without congressional authorization and, in many cases, contrary to statutes passed by Congress and HUD’s own regulations. The plaintiffs also argue that HUD’s actions are arbitrary and capricious, as HUD did not provide a good reason to put aside their own longstanding policies and did not consider the obvious consequences of tens of thousands of vulnerable people being suddenly evicted. The agency explicitly encouraged grantees to implement Housing First policies and to focus on the particular needs of LGBTQ+ individuals as recently as last year.
Joining Attorney General Brown in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington Wisconsin, and the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania
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