HUD launched a Fair Housing investigation into Washington's Covenant Homeownership Program for communities excluded by racially restrictive covenants

On March 24, 2026, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity launched a Fair Housing Act investigation into Washington State's Covenant Homeownership Program. The program, created by bipartisan 2023 state legislation, provides down-payment and closing-cost assistance to residents of communities historically excluded from homeownership by racially restrictive covenants -- documented deed provisions that barred Black, Hispanic, Native American, Pacific Islander, and Indigenous families from buying homes in specific neighborhoods for decades.

HUD Secretary Scott Turner announced the investigation, declaring "DEI is dead at HUD" and stating that a preliminary agency review "strongly suggests" the program violates the Fair Housing Act by considering race in eligibility. HUD's announcement did not cite any individual complaint of discrimination or harm from the program. A federal judge had already reviewed the program and denied a legal challenge to it in February 2026, finding that Washington state had a compelling interest in addressing documented racial disparities in homeownership.

Washington became the third state or local government HUD has targeted with this kind of investigation, following earlier probes into housing programs in Minneapolis and Boston. As of the investigation's opening, HUD had not issued a final determination on whether the Covenant Homeownership Program violates federal law.