Lawmakers probe insurers’ use of credit-based scores

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) led a group of 18 other Democratic members of Congress in letters questioning six major insurance companies about their use of credit-based insurance scores to underwrite and price homeowners’ insurance. The letters, sent to USAA, State Farm, Progressive, Liberty Mutual, Farmers, and Allstate, request details about how consumer credit histories affect access to property coverage and premium costs. The lawmakers argued that property insurance is intended to price the risk of damage to a home, rather than a policyholder’s ability to repay debt, and raised concerns that consumers with weaker credit histories may pay significantly more even when other characteristics are equal.

The inquiry comes as homeowners face rising insurance costs that insurers have attributed to climate-related disasters and higher construction and reinsurance expenses. The lawmakers cited research indicating that credit scores may affect premiums as much as, or more than, disaster risk in many areas and argued that job losses, medical bills, predatory lending or inaccurate information can damage credit without reflecting the risk associated with a property. The companies were asked to respond by Aug. 17. 

Democrats urge HUD to withdraw proposed Equal Access Rule changes

House and Senate Democrats are urging the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to withdraw its proposed revisions to the Equal Access Rule, arguing the changes would weaken protections for LGBTQ+ individuals and create new barriers to HUD-assisted housing and homelessness services. A letter, led by House Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and signed by 119 House Democrats, argues the proposal could affect access to a wide range of HUD programs, including Housing Choice Vouchers, public housing, FHA-insured mortgages, homelessness and domestic violence programs, fair housing enforcement, and community development programs. The lawmakers also contend that the proposal conflicts with existing civil rights law and could create conflicting requirements for housing providers operating under state and local nondiscrimination protections. Senate Democrats sent a similar letter earlier in June.

The current Equal Access Rule dates to 2012 and was clarified in 2016 to require certain HUD-funded single-sex housing and homelessness programs to provide services consistent with an individual’s gender identity and prohibit intrusive inquiries about anatomy or gender identity. The lawmakers argue HUD’s proposal could instead increase documentation requirements and invasive questioning, discourage transgender people from seeking shelter, and ultimately increase unsheltered homelessness. They cite HUD data showing the share of transgender people experiencing homelessness who were housed in emergency shelter or transitional housing increased 31% between 2016 and 2024.

“As the U.S. faces an affordable housing and homelessness crisis and worsening inflation, HUD should be focused on using the tools given to it by Congress to help alleviate the housing crisis and ease homelessness,” wrote the lawmakers. “Instead, the agency has chosen to propose a rule that would eviscerate protections for the LGBTQ+ community, ignore legal precedent, increase red tape and federal overreach for providers, and exasperate homelessness in communities across the country,” the letter reads. 

HUD cancels phase 2 of voucher demonstration

HUD canceled the planned second phase of its Community Choice Demonstration, which tests strategies to help families with children using Housing Choice Vouchers move to lower-poverty, higher-opportunity neighborhoods. HUD cited preliminary findings showing that nearly 24% of families offered comprehensive mobility services moved to an opportunity area within 12 months, compared with 4% of families receiving standard voucher services. The comprehensive model addresses financial barriers, provides housing counseling, encourages families to consider opportunity areas, recruits participating property owners, and helps families remain in their new neighborhoods.

The canceled phase would have tested as many as three smaller and potentially less costly packages of those services. HUD said adding that phase could weaken the comprehensive model and place further pressure on public housing agencies that were already below enrollment targets. Study enrollment ended June 30, earlier than previously planned, and evaluation-related service tracking will conclude Dec. 31. Participating agencies are expected to begin enrolling additional families outside the formal evaluation around Sept. 1 and continue providing mobility services through Oct. 1, 2028, or until available funds are exhausted. HUD will also reallocate approximately $7.4 million in recaptured service funding based on demonstrated need.