Court Dismisses Challenge to HUD’s Implementation of Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule

The D.C. federal district court recently dismissed for lack of standing a suit by three fair housing non-profit organizations that challenged HUD’s implementation of certain requirements under its 2015 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule (AFFH Rule).

The plaintiffs sought injunctive relief against HUD under the Administrative Procedures Act, contending that two notices HUD issued in May 2018 effectively suspended HUD’s AFFH Rule indefinitely without following proper notice-and-comment procedures and in a manner that was arbitrary and capricious.  The plaintiffs alleged that the notices, which withdrew a previously-issued computer assessment tool and directed local governments to revert to certain earlier AFFH assessment methods, had undermined their missions and caused them to divert resources.

The court disagreed with the plaintiffs, observing that many aspects of the AFFH Rule remain effective, and that the notices did not “perceptively impair” the plaintiffs’ abilities to carry out their missions.  As a result, the court found the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge HUD’s actions.  The court went on to note that, even if plaintiffs had standing, they would not have been entitled to preliminary injunctive relief because they had not established a likelihood of success on the merits of their challenge.

The opinion may be found here.