Understanding the Just Housing Amendment: How the Application Process Changed

The Just Housing Amendment to the Cook County Human Rights Ordinance prohibits discrimination based on a tenant's prior criminal history.

How has the application process changed? 

Landlords can no longer include a checkbox on housing applications that asks whether an applicant has a criminal background.

Before accepting an application fee, a landlord must provide the following information: 

• Tenant Selection Criteria, which describes how an applicant will be evaluated. 
• Notice of the applicant’s right to dispute inaccuracies relevant to criminal history and to provide evidence of rehabilitation or other mitigating factors related to their criminal background. 
• A copy of Part 700 of the Commission’s procedural rules or a link to the Cook County Commission on Human Rights’ website, with the address, email address, and phone number of the Commission.  

What happens after the landlord accepts the application fee and provides the information?

Landlords must then use a two-step process and do an individualized assessment if there are convictions in the past 3 years before they can consider denying a housing application.