The Equal Rights Center

Holding the Line — and Building Forward: ERC’s 2025–2028 Strategic Plan – Equal Rights Center Our new 2025–2028 Strategic Plan is both a response to the moment and a statement of resolve.

The work of protecting civil rights is at a crossroads, and organizations leading this work face an increasingly hostile environment. Our new 2025–2028 Strategic Plan is both a response to the moment and a statement of resolve. Learn how we're building forward: equalrightscenter.org/2025-2028-st...

D.C. hits record eviction levels New data shows surging evictions as aid shrinks and tenant protections weaken

Last year, 1,869 DC households were evicted from their homes under a court order, the largest increase since before the pandemic. Advocates worry that the newly approved RENTAL Act, which rolls back tenant protections, will intensify the eviction surge.

51st.news/archive/dc-h...

HUD Issues Layoff Notices, Targeting Fair Housing Staff With Deep Cuts Fair housing staffers who investigate claims of housing discrimination at field offices nationwide were among the hundreds of HUD staffers who received layoff notices.

Last week, hundreds of HUD staff received layoff notices, with the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity facing the deepest cuts. Staffing shortages and shifting priorities have virtually shut down the agency's ability to investigate complaints of housing discrimination.

Maryland redrew an environmental justice map; polluted communities feel left out - Maryland Matters A state map showing “environmental justice” communities is back online, after a Trump administration purge of federal data forced its removal. But the new map excludes race, ethnicity and language dat...

Communities of color & historically redlined areas tend to be overburdened by pollution & underserved by government services. A Maryland environmental justice map removed those factors when race, ethnicity & language data were removed after a Trump admin purge. marylandmatters.org/2025/09/29/m...

Disability Bias Complaints Peak as the Office That Investigates Them Is Gutted - KFF Health News Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.

Federal civil rights complaints against schools reached a new high last year: 8,400 allegations of discrimination against students with disabilities. But federal investigations are in limbo after massive cuts to the Education Department workforce.
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Millions Could Lose Housing Aid Under Trump Plan Drafts of unpublished rules obtained by ProPublica detail plans that would open the door to full-time work requirements, two-year limits on living in federally supported housing and stripping aid from...

The Trump administration is preparing to cut off 4 million people from federal housing assistance. Unpublished plans describe sweeping reforms that experts and advocates warn will weaken the social safety net serving some of the nation’s poorest residents.
www.propublica.org/article/trum...

Two HUD Civil Rights Lawyers Dismissed After Raising Concerns About Fair Housing Act Enforcement

Civil rights lawyers who spoke out about the Trump administration’s efforts to limit enforcement of fair housing laws were removed from their positions at HUD. Their roles involved enforcing the Fair Housing Act by investigating & prosecuting claims of discrimination.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/u...

Know your rights as a HUD tenant during a government shutdown. If you use a Housing Choice Voucher or live in Public Housing, you should not experience any disruption in your housing, and should continue paying your portion of the rent. More info: www.nhlp.org/wp-content/u...

If you have trouble walking or use a wheelchair, you have the right to request:
- A new accessible curb ramp
- Repairs for broken curb ramps or sidewalks
- Objects be removed that are blocking a sidewalk (such as signs or fire hydrants)

Know Your Rights: Baltimore Sidewalks and Curb Ramps - Disability Rights Maryland Baltimore City has a Partial Consent Decree that says it must fix sidewalks and curb ramps that are hard to use for people with mobility disabilities. As part of this, the City must let people ask for...

Baltimore City is required to fix sidewalks and curb ramps that are hard to use for people with mobility disabilities. You may be able to request specific accommodations.
disabilityrightsmd.org/know-your-ri...

Civil Rights Coalition Denounces HUD’s Abdication of its Fair Housing Obligations - NFHA FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Washington, D.C.— The following civil and human rights organizations registered their dismay at facts revealed in a whistleblower complaint filed by five employees working at t...

Whistleblowers say HUD has refused to enforce fair housing laws. ERC joins a coalition of civil rights organizations urging Congress & the HUD Inspector General to ensure HUD fulfills its responsibilities and the nation's fair housing laws are fully enforced.
nationalfairhousing.org/civil-rights...

Trump Appointees Roll Back Enforcement of Fair Housing Laws

Current and former HUD employees say Trump appointees have made it nearly impossible for them to do their jobs fighting housing discrimination. “If you’re not enforcing the Fair Housing Act, then it’s just another dead law.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/r...

DC Water sued for age discrimination, accused of replacing older workers with younger and less experienced hires The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority is accused of replacing older workers with less qualified younger candidates.

The EEOC filed a lawsuit accusing DC Water of discriminating against older employees when it fired them to then hire younger, less experienced hires. The older workers, all over the age of 50, allegedly never received prior performance counseling or warning.
www.wusa9.com/article/news...

Local Testing Is Our Best Defense Against Housing Discrimination Right Now – Equal Rights Center Despite waning federal support for fair housing, local jurisdictions in the region have held firm, continuing their testing contracts with the ERC.

Reports this week confirmed HUD is rolling back fair housing enforcement in dramatic and deeply damaging ways. ERC Executive Director Kate Scott says civil rights testing at the local level is our best defense now against housing discrimination: equalrightscenter.org/hud-enforcem...

Trump Appointees Roll Back Enforcement of Fair Housing Laws

🚨 HUD whistleblowers and federal unionists reveal Trump’s appointees have gutted civil rights protections in housing.
Here’s what you need to know: 🧵
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/r...

Where The Grass Is Greener: Disparities in Access to Parks and Trees – Equal Rights Center One thing the hottest neighborhoods in D.C.—and in cities across America—have in common is a lack of green spaces.

Learn about the fair housing connections to heat islands in our blog: equalrightscenter.org/green-spaces...

Study shows historically redlined Virginia neighborhoods are hotter in the summer • Virginia Mercury As hot and humid summer weather settles across Virginia, a recent study finds that certain neighborhoods across the state, often with higher populations of people of color, can be up to 15 degrees hot...

Some neighborhoods in Virginia get up to 15 degrees hotter than other areas. Those "heat islands" are usually correlated with higher populations of people of color and historical redlining and disinvestment.
virginiamercury.com/briefs/study...

America’s Largest Landlord Makes Deal With DOJ to Settle Price-Fixing Claims in RealPage Case Greystar, which manages nearly 950,000 apartments, has agreed to stop using “anti-competitive” algorithms to suggest rents. ProPublica previously showed how such software lets landlords set rents in a...

Greystar, the nation’s largest landlord, has agreed to stop using algorithmic rent-setting software, RealPage, that allegedly helped it raise rents nationwide. The settlement is the latest development following DOJ lawsuits against 6 landlords and RealPage.
www.propublica.org/article/grey...

Know Your Rights — Free DC

For additional resources: freedcproject.org/rights

Know Your Rights- If You Are Removed and Hospitalized. If you think your rights have been violated call Disability Rights DC at University of Legal Studies (202) 547-0198. If you want to know if you have a lawyer or who your lawyer is, call the Public Defender Services at (202) 824-2860. If you have already been committed, call your lawyer.

People considered “homeless” in DC are being detained and removed from public spaces. If police think you need mental health treatment, you may be taken to the Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program (CPEP). Know your rights as an involuntary or voluntary patient in this situation.

Evicted from Nowhere: D.C. Landlords Are Trying to Evict Tenants from Demolished Apartments Some D.C. tenants were relocated while their buildings are torn down with the promise they can return to the new buildings. But now some landlords are trying to evict them from nonexistent apartments,...

While their apartment buildings were being rebuilt, tenants were relocated and promised that they could return to the new buildings. However, some affordable housing providers are evicting tenants from nonexistent apartments to prevent them from returning.
washingtoncitypaper.com/article/7689...

Trump Order Sparks Concerns About Forced Institutionalization A White House order calling for greater reliance on institutionalization threatens decades of precedent on disability rights, advocates are warning.

“This executive order appears aimed at upending decades of established Supreme Court precedent and eliminating basic protections that prevent the arbitrary confinement of people based on a disability.”
www.disabilityscoop.com/2025/08/01/t...

Eviction fears, disability discrimination, and Trump’s war on fair housing Meanwhile “the nation is in the throes of a fair and affordable housing crisis.”

Experts warn that the Trump admin's assault on fair housing will have consequences for low-income renters, people with disabilities, & other protected classes. The changes “will open the floodgates to predatory conduct in the housing market.”
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Montgomery County Council passes ‘missing middle’ housing plan Under the plan meant to create more housing for middle-income residents, the impacted corridors are mostly concentrated in the county’s southeast quadrant around Bethesda, Silver Spring, Glenmont and ...

The Montgomery County Council passed a zoning change to allow multiunit homes to be built on zones previously for single-family homes, an effort to address a “missing middle” housing shortage for middle-income residents.
wapo.st/4mZjenl

See the ERC's guide for more information: equalrightscenter.org/wp-content/u...

Voucher holders gain legal victory as Maryland court strengthens fair housing protections The housing provider's policy that requires tenants to have a minimum income of two and a half times the rental amount discriminated against voucher holders.

The Supreme Court of Md. ruled that housing policies that disproportionately affect voucher holders may violate the state's fair housing law. New guidance says landlords should only consider the “applicant’s portion of the rent” when using minimum income requirements.
wjla.com/news/local/m...

Housing Agency to Offer Material Only in English, Official Says

HUD will reportedly no longer provide any materials in languages other than English. “Millions of tenants, applicants, & survivors of violence need language access. Denying it could shut people out of housing & services they’re entitled to by law.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/u...

‘We Don’t Accept Section 8’: Undercover Testers Found Voucher Discrimination Across D.C. The Equal Rights Center’s investigations and lawsuits detail how D.C. landlords turn away prospective tenants just because they use housing vouchers to pay rent.

A new @wcp.bsky.social article highlights the ERC's ongoing work to protect the rights of housing voucher holders in D.C. by challenging unlawful tenant screening criteria. Read to hear from ERC leadership about our role enforcing fair housing in the District.
washingtoncitypaper.com/article/7695...

‘We Don’t Accept Section 8’: Undercover Testers Found Voucher Discrimination Across D.C. The Equal Rights Center’s investigations and lawsuits detail how D.C. landlords turn away prospective tenants just because they use housing vouchers to pay rent.

More than 10,000 D.C. renters rely on housing choice vouchers. A new lawsuit shows how landlords are still finding ways to shut them out.

Contributor Suzie Amanuel reports on voucher discrimination in the District:

Trump Administration Prepares to Drop Seven Major Housing Discrimination Cases Federal housing officials spent years investigating cities from Chicago to Memphis to Corpus Christi for putting industrial plants and unwanted facilities in poor, nonwhite neighborhoods. Now, under T...

“No administration previously has so aggressively rolled back the basic protections that help people who are being harmed in their community. The civil rights protections that HUD enforces are intended to protect the most vulnerable people in society.”
www.propublica.org/article/trum...