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PRRAC Update: Pennsylvania SOID amicus brief; new report from PRRAC alumnus; FHIP lawsuit (August 6, 2026)

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PRRAC Leads on Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania Amicus Brief in Defense of Philadelphia’s Source of Income Discrimination Protections: On July 23, 2026, pro bono counsel from the law firm of Hogan Lovells Cadwaladerfiled an amicus brief in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania in support of the City of Philadelphia on behalf of a coalition of organizations including, in addition to PRRAC, the National Fair Housing Alliance, the National Homelessness Law Center, and the National Housing Law Project in Housing Equality Center of Pennsylvania v. OCF Realty, LLC. In Housing Equality Center of Pennsylvania, an individual tenant and a private fair housing center are challenging a landlord’s alleged source of discrimination, and the landlord is arguing that Philadelphia’s protections against source of income discrimination are in excess of Philadelphia’s home rule powers and preempted by state and federal law. The Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas sustained the landlord’s preliminary objections and dismissed the plaintiffs’ complaint in a decision that is now on appeal. The amicus brief highlights the importance of the voucher program in addressing Philadelphia’s housing crisis, how source of income protections are needed for the program to deliver on its full potential, and how fair housing organizations play a critical role in the enforcement of civil rights laws. Counsel from the Public Interest Law Center and the law firm of Dechert LLP are representing the plaintiffs, and the City of Philadelphia has intervened in defense of its own ordinance on the side of the plaintiffs. PRRAC is proud to stand with all of these great partners and allies in defense of Philadelphia’s critically needed fair housing protections.

Other news and resources

Excellent PRRAC Alumnus Report on State Law Innovations to Protect and Advance Civil Rights: Friend of PRRAC Megan Haberle, Policy Director of the Initiative on Land, Housing & Property Rights at Boston College Law School, has a great report out on state law innovations regarding fair housing and environmental justice. We recommend that our readers check it out!

Lawsuit Filed Challenging Fair Housing Initiatives Program Changes: On July 23, 2026, the National Fair Housing Alliance and the Massachusetts Fair Housing Center filed an Administrative Procedure Act lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The complaint challenges provisions in the current notices of funding opportunity for the Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) that diverge from Congress’s purpose in authorizing and funding the program. Counsel from Relman Colfax PLLC represent the plaintiffs. This is not the first time advocates have had to sue HUD over issues relating to FHIP under Secretary Scott Turner’s maladministration, and it may not be the last.

A Break from the Parade of Horribles – Golf Course Redevelopment: A recent article in Vox addressed a topic that our Executive Director has been droning on about for at least eight years: the importance of building affordable – heck why not social? – housing on golf courses. In that vein, here are three golf courses in the DMV that should be redeveloped with housing and an explanation for why the four courses in D.C. proper are not among them.

  • Chevy Chase Club: Predictably located in Chevy Chase, Maryland, this course offers strong transit access. The northwest corner of the course is only about one-half mile from Bethesda Metro Station and the southwest corner is about the same from Friendship Heights. Although the east side of the course is less accessible to the train, it abuts Connecticut Avenue, which has relatively frequent bus service as it stands and could be a great candidate for bus rapid transit service in the future.
  • Army Navy Country Club: This course, located in Arlington, Virginia, is in a bit of a Metro desert, but that does not mean that housing development here could not reduce many workers’ commute times. Consistent with its name, the course is very close to the world’s second largest office building.
  • Trump National Golf Club – “Washington, D.C.”: This course, located in Sterling, Virginia, does not actually make any sense as a target for housing development from a transportation or environmental planning perspective. Despite the extension of Metro service into Loudoun County via the Silver Line, it is still a 20-minute drive from the train. The lowlying site near the Potomac River might also present drainage and stormwater management issues if developed for housing. As for reasons other than transportation and environmental planning for picking on this course: no comment. (Reston National Golf Course in Reston, Virginia would be a better answer.)
  • Why not D.C. proper?: D.C. has four golf courses, three on National Park Service land and one on Department of Defense land. The Old Soldiers’ Home Golf Course would not be a terrible choice for housing development if the Department of Defense went through the process of alienating the land, but that prospect seems remote. For the National Park Service courses, however, two of the three – East Potomac and Langdon – would likely have flooding issues while the other, Rock Creek Park, would be better off re-forested and integrated into the surrounding parkland.