Dive Brief:

• A federal judge said Monday the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development may not use “disparate impact” claims in determining whether housing-related actions by organizations have discriminated against minorities.

• Disparate impact claims rely on an interpretation of the Fair Housing Act that says an organization doesn’t have to intend to discriminate to be guilty of housing bias.

• The judge ruled that that interpretation “appears to be nothing more than wishful thinking on steroids.”

Dive Insight:

The ruling could be short-lived because the Supreme Court has already agreed to hear a separate disparate impact case. The high court is expected to issue its own ruling by the end of June.

HUD had issued guidelines in 2013 saying that disparate claims -- long in dispute but filed in courts for many years -- were allowable under the housing act. Now the high court will settle the issue.