Attorney General Bonta Secures Full Victory in Lawsuit Challenging Trump Administration’s Attack on Fair Housing Protections

OAKLAND — Co-leading a coalition of 16 attorneys general, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that the coalition has secured relief from unlawful conditions the Trump Administration attempted to place on Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP) funding. Administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the FHAP provides funding to state and local agencies that enforce fair housing laws. In California, the program supports the California Civil Rights Department’s work to protect Californians from housing discrimination.

In March 2026, the coalition filed a lawsuit challenging unlawful conditions in HUD's Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 FHAP Funding Guidance, which could have limited state and local agencies’ ability to enforce their fair housing laws, including by restricting reimbursement for certain fair housing complaints and threatening agencies that enforce protections beyond those in federal law. Now, the Trump Administration has conceded to the coalition’s challenge, agreeing to dismiss the lawsuit after confirming that HUD would not seek to impose, implement, or enforce the challenged conditions in the future and that the FY 2025 Guidance is no longer in effect. A letter from HUD also confirms the conditions will not apply to FY 2026 FHAP funding and that HUD does not plan to include them in future guidance.

“The Trump Administration backed down from this attack on fair housing protections,” said Attorney General Bonta. “States across the country received their 2025 funding without these unlawful conditions, and HUD has confirmed those conditions will not return in 2026 or future years. We will keep fighting to ensure every community has the tools it needs to protect people from discrimination.”

Attorney General Bonta and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul co-led the March 2026 lawsuit. Joining them were the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.