HUD's mission is to ensure Americans have access to safe, decent, and affordable housing. It enforces the federal Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, religion, national origin, sex, disability, and familial status, and investigates thousands of housing discrimination complaints each year.

The department's Federal Housing Administration insures mortgages issued by private lenders, allowing millions of homebuyers, particularly first-time buyers and those with smaller down payments, to qualify for financing they might not otherwise access, and has backed more than 47 million home mortgages since its creation in 1934.

HUD also funds public housing authorities and the Housing Choice Voucher program (commonly known as Section 8), which subsidizes rent for millions of low-income households, and distributes Community Development Block Grants that cities and towns use for infrastructure, affordable housing, and neighborhood revitalization projects.