As Trump Reshapes Housing Policy, Renters Face Rollback of Rights
Amid a wave of deregulation, legal aid groups are worried about cuts to federal rental assistance and fair housing enforcement, especially for immigrant tenants.
At this low-income apartment complex in Denver, residents and the Denver Metro Tenants Union recently filed a lawsuit against the property’s owners over poor conditions.
Photographer: Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Gr/Denver PostTakeaways by Bloomberg AI
During the first 100 days of the Trump administration, a flurry of executive orders, policy reversals and proposed funding cuts have threatened to dramatically curtail housing assistance and renter protections in cities across the US.
At the Department of Housing and Urban Development, field offices are slated to close and staff may be cut in half. HUD has vowed to withhold funds from sanctuary cities that don’t cooperate with President Donald Trump’s efforts to deport undocumented residents and to stop enforcing the Equal Access Rule, which protects tenants regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Trump has also re-revoked HUD’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing standard — a target of his first term that mandates communities receiving federal aid proactively address barriers to fair housing.