San Francisco and Santa Clara County join lawsuit challenging unlawful restrictions on federal homelessness funding

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (December 3, 2025) — San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu and Santa Clara County Counsel Tony LoPresti announced today San Francisco and Santa Clara County joined a broad coalition of cities and nonprofit organizations in filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The lawsuit challenges HUD’s new restrictions on its Continuum of Care (CoC) Program, which threaten to push hundreds of thousands of Americans into homelessness as cold winter months arrive.

“HUD’s Continuum of Care program provides tens of millions in funding to house thousands of our most vulnerable,” said San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu. “HUD’s decision to defund permanent supportive housing, which San Francisco has relied on for decades, will push our most vulnerable citizens out of their homes without a place to go. We will continue to oppose these efforts and stand up in court for San Francisco’s values, funding, and communities.”

“HUD’s new grant rules would effectively defund permanent supportive housing and rapid rehousing programs across the nation, eliminating proven tools that help residents exit homelessness sustainably,” said Santa Clara County Counsel Tony LoPresti. “This is another instance of the Trump Administration prioritizing its political agenda above the needs of our most vulnerable community members.  We’re proud to be part of a broad national coalition that is standing up for data-driven solutions.”

Background
Under multiple federal administrations, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Continuum of Care (CoC) Program has helped provide the necessary resources for local governments and organizations to fund permanent housing projects for veterans, seniors, people with disabilities, and individuals and families with children experiencing homelessness.

On November 13, 2025, without explanation, HUD rescinded the program’s Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), which would have awarded San Francisco $56 million for fiscal year 2025, and replaced it with one that threatens deep funding cuts. The new NOFO makes drastic changes to every aspect of the CoC program, changing the types of projects eligible for funding, the criteria for selecting awardees, and the conditions grantees will be required to accept in order to receive funding.

HUD is moving forward with this action on a compressed timeline despite the concern that it could push more than 170,000 Americans into homelessness as the country heads into the winter months. After more than a decade of prioritizing evidence-based approaches that reduce homelessness, as the coalition’s lawsuit explains, the new NOFO upends the stability of the program required by law, will have devastating impacts for Plaintiffs, and cause hundreds of thousands of children, youth, adults, and families to be evicted from their homes.

San Francisco and Santa Clara County join National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH), the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), Crossroads Rhode Island, Youth Pride, Inc., King County, WA, Boston, MA, Cambridge, MA, Nashville, TN, and Tucson, AZ in the lawsuit, which was filed in federal district court in Rhode Island. Democracy Forward represents the coalition of nonprofit organizations in the matter; the National Homelessness Law Center represents NAEH and NLIHC; Public Rights Project represents the cities of Boston, Cambridge, Nashville and Tucson; and Santa Clara County and San Francisco represent themselves. The Lawyers’ Committee for Rhode Island represents San Francisco as local counsel.

The case is National Alliance to End Homelessness, et al. v. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, et al., U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, Case No. 1:25-cv-00636. View the complaint.