The Washington Report

Four local fair housing centers, representing a class of HUD fair housing grant recipients whose grants were terminated, are suing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

This legal action follows HUD’s termination of grants disbursed under the Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP). The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court in the District of Massachusetts, was brought on behalf of a proposed class of more than 60 fair housing groups whose grants were terminated by HUD and DOGE on February 27, 2025. Seventy-eight FHIP grants were terminated in 33 states without advance notice. Plaintiffs have moved for a temporary restraining order.

For decades, fair housing groups—funded by FHIP—have served local communities by investigating housing discrimination complaints, assisting individuals facing discrimination, educating communities about their rights, and collaborating with the housing industry and local governments.

The four named plaintiffs in the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) filing are the Massachusetts Fair Housing Center, Intermountain Fair Housing Council, Fair Housing Council of South Texas, and Housing Research and Advocacy Center.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network recently issued a new Geographic Targeting Order (GTO) to combat money laundering and illicit financial crimes with a coverage area in the southwest part of the country. The GTO requires all money services businesses across multiple jurisdictions within California and Texas to file Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) with FinCEN for transactions of $200 or more.

Under the GTOs, title professionals are required to file additional information related to all-cash transactions in certain jurisdictions.

Read FinCEN's news release about the new GTO.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) granted an additional 90-day extension of the foreclosure moratorium for residents with certain Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured mortgages impacted by the wildfires in the Presidentially-Declared Major Disaster Areas (PDMDA) around Los Angeles, California. The moratorium prevents mortgage servicers from initiating or completing foreclosure actions on FHA-insured single family forward or Home Equity Conversion mortgages through July 7, 2025. In addition to those affected by the wildfires, a moratorium remains in place for persons with FHA-insured mortgages in areas affected by hurricanes Helene and Milton until April 11, 2025. More information can be found at the links below.
 

Extension of the Foreclosure Moratorium in Connection with the Presidentially-Declared Major Disaster Area in Los Angeles County, California

Extension of the Foreclosure Moratoriums in Connection with Hurricanes Helene and Milton

NAR President Kevin Sears was in attendance at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headquarters as Administrator Lee Zeldin initiated a new effort to redefine Waters of the United States (WOTUS) to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 ruling in Sackett v. EPA, which lifted Clean Water Act jurisdiction on many wetlands and other bodies of water.

The EPA also said wetlands protected under the Clean Water Act are only those that directly abut navigable waterways, according to new guidance on how federal agencies shall respond to Sackett.

The EPA will pursue a "definition that is simple and durable and withstands the test of time," Zeldin said during an announcement in Washington. "This is to simply follow the rule of law."

The agency will hold a series of public "listening sessions" that will "inform any future administrative actions," such as a rulemaking on the definition of WOTUS, according to a draft Federal Register notice the EPA published along with the guidance.

Waters and wetlands that have a physically-remote hydrological connection to traditionally navigable waters don't count as WOTUS, the new guidance says. The guidance will be implemented by the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers, which determines Clean Water Act jurisdiction in most states.

The approach is to issue guidance that is fairly limited and then plan for the rulemaking. The EPA has not identified specifically what the rulemaking is, but the EPA is starting with notice and comment of a possible rulemaking with major changes likely to come in the future.

Read EPA's new guidance on how federal agencies shall respond to Sackett.

View the draft Federal Register notice.