Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown and a multistate coalition won a federal court case challenging changes by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that would have limited funding available for permanent housing programs.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island granted key portions of the coalition’s motion for summary judgment, ruling that HUD’s proposed funding set-aside was unlawful and could not be implemented.
The case involved funding through HUD’s Continuum of Care program, which supports housing programs for people experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity.
HUD had issued a notice of funding opportunity creating a $1.3 billion set-aside for new projects that prioritized programs including transitional housing. The coalition argued the change would effectively limit funding for permanent housing projects.
According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the funding change threatened housing for at least 97,000 residents of Continuum of Care-funded permanent housing nationwide, including roughly 2,000 Maryland residents.
The latest case followed a separate ruling in June in which states successfully challenged HUD conditions on billions of dollars in Continuum of Care funding. That case included a proposed cap on funding that could be used for permanent supportive housing.
After that cap was struck down, HUD issued the new funding notice that became the subject of the latest lawsuit.
For more than two decades, HUD has supported permanent housing programs and the Housing First model, which prioritizes placing people in permanent housing without first requiring conditions such as sobriety or a minimum income.
Brown joined the lawsuit with the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. The governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania also joined the case.
