Restoring Fair Housing Protections Eliminated by Trump Act of 2025
The Restoring Fair Housing Protections Eliminated by Trump Act of 2025 (H.R. 3086) is a bill aimed at reversing several actions taken by the Trump administration and reestablishing a stronger federal focus on fair housing through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). It redefines HUD’s mission to explicitly promote inclusive, non-discriminatory, and opportunity-rich housing, and it repeals a March 2025 interim rule that had loosened the affirmative “affirmatively furthering fair housing” (AFFH) requirements. The bill directs HUD to issue a new AFFH standard within 90 days that requires meaningful actions to reduce segregation, improve access to opportunity, and ensure compliance with civil rights and fair housing laws across all program activities. In addition to restoring the AFFH framework, the bill imposes new transparency and accountability measures. It requires a 180-day Congress-facing report analyzing complaints involving digital platforms and artificial intelligence in housing (e.g., ad targeting, tenant screening, mortgage underwriting, pricing, listings) and to assess gaps in the Fair Housing Act’s ability to address discrimination in digital housing markets. It also mandates a publicly accessible HUD database updated quarterly that tracks a wide range of fair housing complaints, including those involving violence against women, and disaggregates data by protected classes, program type, state, and other factors. The combined effect would be a stronger federal push for integrated, non-discriminatory housing policies and greater public reporting on housing discrimination trends.
Key Points
- 1Reestablishes HUD’s mission to create inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all, expanding the department’s explicit purpose beyond simply administering programs.
- 2Repeals the interim final rule issued March 3, 2025 (AFFH Revisions) and directs HUD to issue a new rule within 90 days that defines AFFH as requiring meaningful actions to overcome segregation, increase access to opportunity, and maintain compliance with civil rights and fair housing laws.
- 3Defines AFFH to apply to all activities and programs related to housing and urban development, ensuring the AFFH duty covers the full scope of program participants’ work, not just specific programs.
- 4Section 5 requires HUD to submit a Congress-directed 180-day report reviewing complaints filed under the Fair Housing Act related to digital platforms and artificial intelligence, including areas such as ad delivery, tenant screening, automated underwriting, dynamic pricing, and real estate listings; analyzes discrimination risks and outlines proposed steps to address them.
- 5Creates a publicly accessible HUD database (updated quarterly) showing:
- 6- Total Fair Housing Act complaints by protected class;
- 7- Violations under the Violence Against Women Act;
- 8- Breakdowns by homelessness status, tenants, and applicants for covered housing;
- 9- State-by-state referral data;
- 10- Retaliation, eviction, and resolution statuses;
- 11- Referral pathways to state/local agencies and to the Attorney General;
- 12- Outcomes such as reasonable cause findings.
- 13Expands the set of programs considered “covered housing” for purposes of data reporting to include a broad array of HUD-assisted housing programs (e.g., public housing, vouchers, project-based assistance, multifamily programs, veteran housing, rural housing, etc.), ensuring wide coverage of housing types.
- 14Short title and formal findings emphasize restoring protections and criticizing recent changes, setting a policy stance in favor of robust fair housing enforcement.