Maryland Commission on Civil Rights Stands with Multistate Coalition to Defend Fair Housing Protections
The Maryland Commission on Civil Rights (“MCCR”) today reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to protecting fair housing rights after the Maryland Office of the Attorney General joined a multistate coalition filing a lawsuit challenging actions by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (“HUD”) that threaten to weaken the nation’s fair housing enforcement system.
The lawsuit, filed by a coalition of attorneys general across the country, challenges new federal guidance that threatens to strip funding and certification from state and local fair housing agencies unless they abandon certain state-level protections against housing discrimination. If implemented, these actions could undermine decades of progress in the fight against housing discrimination and weaken the partnership between federal and state agencies responsible for enforcing fair housing laws.
For more than four decades, the Fair Housing Assistance Program (“FHAP”) has served as a critical partnership between HUD and state and local civil rights agencies, allowing those agencies to investigate housing discrimination complaints and enforce fair housing laws in their communities.
Through this partnership, agencies like MCCR help ensure that victims of discrimination have access to justice while expanding outreach, education, and enforcement efforts that protect communities across the country.
However, federal guidance issued in September 2025 threatens to decertify participating agencies and cut off critical funding if they continue enforcing certain protections provided under state laws across the country – such as protections based on sexual orientation, gender identity, military status, language, criminal history, or source of income.
The complaint asserts that these actions unlawfully attempt to coerce states into weakening their own civil rights laws and abandoning protections enacted by their legislatures to safeguard residents from discrimination.
Fair housing protections are not simply policy decisions – they are fundamental civil rights protections that determine whether families can live with dignity, stability, and opportunity,” said Cleveland L. Horton II, Executive Director of the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights. “For generations, the fight for fair housing has been about breaking down barriers that limit where people can live, where their children can learn, and where families can build a future. The partnership between HUD and state civil rights agencies has been essential to that progress. Efforts to weaken that partnership or force states to abandon protections that safeguard their residents threaten to roll back decades of hard-fought civil rights advancements. The Maryland Commission on Civil Rights will continue to stand firmly in the gap for the people of Maryland and remain steadfast in our mission to protect the rights, dignity, and opportunity of every Marylander.”
The complaint further alleges that HUD’s actions violate federal law by imposing unlawful conditions on funding and by attempting to restructure the enforcement framework established by Congress under the Fair Housing Act.
These actions could also limit the ability of state and local agencies to investigate housing discrimination claims, potentially delaying justice for victims and reducing enforcement capacity nationwide.
HUD is threatening to cut off funding to the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights unless we abandon our State’s fair housing laws to advance President Trump’s political agenda,” said Anthony G. Brown, Attorney General of the State of Maryland. “LGBTQ Marylanders, veterans and military families, housing voucher recipients, and Marylanders facing discrimination based on their marital status depend on these critical safeguards to secure housing. We will not be bullied into turning our backs on the people these laws were built to protect.”
Civil rights progress has always required vigilance,” Horton continued. “The Maryland Commission on Civil Rights is prepared to do what it has always done – stand on the side of fairness, stand on the side of justice, and stand in the gap for all Marylanders. Our responsibility is clear: we must continue to ensure that the promise of fair housing remains real, meaningful, and accessible to everyone.”
The Maryland Commission on Civil Rights remains committed to working with community partners, housing providers, advocates, and government agencies to ensure that the principles of fairness, equality, and justice remain at the center of housing opportunity in Maryland.