On March 16, a coalition of attorneys general from 15 states and the District of Columbia announced they have filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California challenging a set of September 2025 guidance documents issued by HUD, which set forth significant changes to the department’s Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP) that the states assert violate the APA and the U.S. Constitution’s Spending Clause, among other claims. The complaint alleges that HUD’s 2025 guidance reverses decades of federal policy by threatening to revoke the “substantial equivalency certifications” of state and local fair housing agencies that enforce state laws that protect classes beyond those enumerated in the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA), such as sexual orientation, gender identity, source of income, and criminal records. The complaint further alleges that the guidance imposes unlawful new funding conditions barring agencies from using grant funds to promote, fund, or facilitate “gender ideology,” “elective abortions,” or “illegal immigration,” and prohibits agencies from pursuing claims based on disparate impact liability.

The attorneys general argued that the FHA establishes a floor, not a ceiling, for housing discrimination protections, and that HUD regulations permit state and local agencies to enforce fair housing laws with protections that exceed federal law. The complaint notes that multiple federal courts have already enjoined HUD from imposing identical or similar conditions on other federal housing programs. The complaint seeks a declaratory judgment that HUD’s guidance violates the APA and the Constitution, vacatur of the challenged provisions, and a permanent injunction blocking enforcement based on the guidance.