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.
The above article provides information about legal issues but is not the same as legal advice. Legal advice is when a lawyer applies the law to your specific situation. The information in this article does not replace the advice or representation of a licensed attorney. Law Center for Better Housing cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information in this article and is not responsible for any consequences that may result from using it. You should consult with a licensed attorney to ensure the information in this article is appropriate for your specific situation. Using the information in this article does not create a relationship between Law Center for Better Housing and you as your attorney.