HUD settles fair housing cases, reduces Biden backlog

The Department of Housing and Urban Development continues to reshape its enforcement of the Fair Housing Act by settling multiple cases and halting investigations of disparate impact.

HUD announced 15 recent fair housing actions that progress civil rights enforcement, deliver relief to Americans facing housing discrimination and reduce a case backlog inherited from the Biden administration. The moves include charges and settlements involving sexual harassment allegations, discrimination against families with children, failure to accommodate people with disabilities and violations of protections for victims of domestic violence, according to the agency. 

"Every one of these actions represents an American whose rights deserved protection," HUD Secretary Scott Turner said in a press release Friday. "HUD is enforcing the Fair Housing Act, delivering justice for victims of discrimination and restoring accountability to a system that for too long failed the people it was meant to serve."

Seven of the 15 actions were charges, while the remaining eight were settlements dating back to late January. One of the charges, United States v. Bell, resulted in $250,000 in damages after the respondents violated the Fair Housing Act by subjecting the complainant and other female tenants to sexual harassment and retaliation in residential properties by the manager. The settlement also required respondents to attend training.

HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, which enforces the Fair Housing Act, among others, has reduced the Biden administration backlog by 27% and accelerated investigations and enforcement to deliver timely justice for Americans facing discrimination, the release said.

The Trump administration has worked to alter fair lending laws over the past year. In an executive order last April, President Trump sought to eliminate the legal theory of disparate impact, which holds firms accountable for the discriminatory effects of policies and decisions, even if there isn't proof those choices were intended to be discriminatory.

A group of Democratic attorneys general filed a lawsuit in March challenging HUD's guidance to narrow the scope of the agency's fair housing enforcement mandate. The guidance blocked agencies from pursuing claims targeting housing practices that may be discriminatory based on disparate impact, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said.

"The Biden administration viewed the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity as a potent weapon in its campaign to fundamentally alter American life consistent with a radical left-wing vision," Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Craig Trainor said in the release. "As a result, Americans suffered while fair housing investigators chased nonexistent discrimination emanating from statistical disparities and the false premise that systemic racism exists in contemporary America."

HUD's Office of Inspector General found the Biden administration failed to close about 70% of cases within the 100-day timeline required by law, according to the release.

"Under Secretary Turner's leadership, the department helps real people facing real harm," Trainor said. "These actions reflect that commitment."