One to Track – Reactionary Challenge to New Jersey Disparate Impact Regulations: On September 3, 2026, counsel from the Pacific Legal Foundation filed Mortgage Bankers Association v. Davenport in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. The complaint alleges that disparate impact regulationspromulgated by the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights in December 2025 violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and are preempted by the federal Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. These specious claims are based on the incorrect premise that covered entities would need to take account of race (and other protected characteristics) in order to avoid liability under the regulations. However, that is not how disparate impact and disparate impact remedies – which instead focus on the removal of the offending barriers (often in a manner that benefits non-protected class members, as well) – actually work in practice. Moreover, the nuanced differences between the standard that New Jersey has set forth and the framework that the U.S. Supreme Court was grappling with in Texas Department of Housing & Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project simply do not shift the balance as regards whether adequate safeguards exist under a disparate impact framework in order to avoid serious constitutional concerns. PRRAC will track this litigation as it progresses (hopefully towards a swift demise).
Misleading HUD Notice on Homelessness Research: On September 11, 2026, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a misleading notice that purports to provide a grounding in research for shifts in its Continuum of CareNotice of Funding Opportunity away from support for permanent supportive housing and to funding for transitional housing and supportive services. The publication triggered a 30-day public comment period that concludes on October 13. The best evidence is clear: Housing First is the most effective approach to reducing and ultimately ending homelessness. Offers of permanent housing, paired with voluntary supportive services, work, and large-scale economic factors – including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic – account for how homelessness can increase at a time when many public sector entities (imperfectly and incompletely) embrace Housing First. The notice contains many flaws. Without limitation, it mistakes anecdotal press coverage for rigorous empirical research. It ignores how HUD programs work in tandem with funding streams from other agencies – like the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services – that are heavily focused on funding supportive services. And it fails to consider the appropriate points of comparison when attributing successful impact to the models HUD now prefers. PRRAC urges Update readers to comment on the notice, highlighting these and other flaws.
Other news and resources
Join PRRAC for Happy Hour in Los Angeles – October 8: Join PRRAC in Los Angeles for a happy hour fundraiser hosted by our Board member Silvia Argueta at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles at 5:30 PM local time on Thursday, October 8. Grab your ticket here!
Important Paper on Long-Range Impacts of Gautreaux Mobility Remedy: Researchers Eric Chyn, Robert Collinson, and Danielle Sandler have an important new paper on the long-range impacts of the mobility remedy for Chicago public housing residents from the Gautreaux litigation. Among other outcomes, they find significantly increased lifetime earnings and wealth for children who moved to predominantly white neighborhoods.
A Break from the Parade of Horribles – Drafting Justice Playlist: Did you make it to our inaugural Drafting Justice celebration back in July and do you now find yourself trying to recapture the feeling of being there? Did you miss it and now want a taste of what you missed? Well, this week give our playlist from the event a listen! For context, the program took place during a half-hour window between “Rebel Without a Pause” and “People Make the World Go Round.” Here are our staff’s favorite picks from the playlist:
- Tessa: The Magnetic Fields – “Washington, D.C.”
- Thomas: A Tribe Called Quest – “Stir It Up (Steve Biko)”
