Cities & States Welcome $5 Billion Federal Grant to Fight Homelessness
President Joe Biden will be making housing and homelessness a central focus of his administration.
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HUD
Housing Agency Blasted Over New Rigor for Disparate-Impact Claims
The standard to prove housing discrimination is getting tougher. A new lawsuit envisions callous results: families in the street and battered women getting evicted.
Read moreDisaster-Relief Funds
A federal court in California ruled against environmental groups’ that claimed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development used outdated environmental impact statements when it approved the use of disaster relief funds for a logging project and a new biomass plant. The court denied the groups’ motions for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order, finding the alleged environmental injuries do not “necessarily outweigh the economic concerns.”
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Most Renters Will Get No Help
Most Americans who rent their home, many of whom have lost their jobs in the sudden economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus outbreak, will not be eligible for eviction protections, despite what President Trump said this week.
Read moreWar on Immigrants
The Legal Aid Society sued the Department of Housing and Urban Development in federal court for information on its plan to withhold rental assistance to any household whose leaseholder is not an eligible immigrant, regardless of the presence of eligible U.S. citizens or immigrants in the household.
Read moreFair Housing
The Port Arthur Community Action Network et al. sued the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, et al. in federal court, claiming they discriminated against poor, minority renters by letting only property owners apply for $5.6 billion in HUD recovery money after Hurricane Harvey.
Read moreFalse Claims
Federal prosecutors claim Lakeway Regional Medical Center, et al., of Texas, cost the Department of Housing and Urban Development $172 million by “conspir(ing) to make numerous false statements and material omissions during the application process,” for a loan to open a hospital, which failed and defaulted.
Read moreBiomass Power
The Earth Island Institute sued the U.S. Department of Housing and Development in federal court, claiming it used outdated Environmental Impact Statements when the co-defendant California Department of Housing and Community Development used disaster relief funds to build a new biomass power plant that would use resources of the Stanislaus National Forest, after a California wildfire.
Read moreFacial-Recognition Push Draws Fire in House
A trio of Democratic congresswomen introduced a bill Thursday to prohibit the use of facial-recognition technology in most federally sponsored public housing.
Read moreFight Over HUD Housing Eviction Over Medical Pot Tossed
A California woman who was evicted from federally subsidized housing for using medical cannabis saw her legal challenge dismissed Thursday, with a judge finding she must first go through the difficult task of petitioning the Drug Enforcement Administration to lift restrictions on the drug.
Read moreImmigrant Advocates Denounce HUD Plan to Evict Mixed-Status Families
Housing and immigration advocates blasted a proposed housing policy from the federal government Wednesday that would evict families with mixed immigration status from public or subsidized housing.
Read moreFeds OK Homeless Shelters to Turn Away Transgender People
The federal government announced plans Wednesday to roll back protections for homeless transgender people by allowing federally funded shelters to deny services for religious reasons.
Read moreElderly Widow Says Imminent Eviction Violates HUD Policy
An 85-year-old whose late husband took out a reverse mortgage on their home claims in a federal complaint that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is trying to evict her.
Read moreJudge Says HUD Free to Revise Housing Desegregation Rule
Civil rights groups are expressing disappointment over the federal court ruling that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development does not have to reinstate a rule designed to undo racial segregation.
Read moreTexas Governor Announces Billions in Harvey Disaster Aid
Governor Greg Abbott said Tuesday that Texas will get $5.5 billion in federal disaster-relief aid for Hurricane Harvey by the end of March, urging local leaders to spend much of those funds on flood-mitigation projects ahead of the next hurricane.
Read moreFeds Sued for Delaying Housing Rule Meant to Help Poor Families
Civil rights groups claim the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s decision to delay mandated changes to the housing voucher program will unlawfully limit housing options available to low-income families who rely on the program.
Read moreTenth Circuit Lets Tribe’s Fight for HUD Money Continue
A divided 10th Circuit panel ruled this week that it remains to be seen whether the Department of Housing and Urban Development must repay $140,000 in grant money it seized without hearings from a Native American housing authority.
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Ben Carson Confirmed as Housing Secretary
The U.S. Senate voted Thursday morning to confirm retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson as the next U.S. Housing and Urban Development secretary.
Read moreTrump Confirms Carson Is Choice to Be HUD Secretary
President-elect Donald Trump formally nominated Dr. Ben Carson as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Monday, ending speculation that had been simmering for more than a week that the retired neurosurgeon would take the job.
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