HUD Investigation into Minneapolis and St. Paul Housing Practices

A civil rights attorney, Michael Allen, has filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) against the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The complaint, supported by the Metropolitan Interfaith Council on Affordable Housing (MICAH) and three neighborhood organizations, alleges that both cities are violating the federal Civil Rights Act and the Fair Housing Act by steering affordable housing units into high-poverty, segregated areas while limiting development in high-opportunity, majority-white communities. The complaint argues that these policies perpetuate racial and ethnic segregation and undermine the integration of public schools. It highlights significant disparities in housing distribution, noting that one-fourth of Minneapolis census tracts with the highest minority populations contain 49 percent of the city's low-income housing, while the whitest quartile of census tracts contains only 1.3 percent. The complainants are requesting a federal investigation, which could potentially jeopardize millions of dollars in annual federal block grants if the cities are found to be in non-compliance. Both cities have denied the allegations, asserting that they are in full compliance with federal fair housing laws and that their use of Low Income Housing Tax Credits has been successful in diversifying housing options. This action follows a separate complaint filed in September against the Metropolitan Council and the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, which alleged a failure to distribute affordable housing equitably across the region's outer-tier suburbs.