Being Denied a Rental in Illinois
My rental application was denied unfairly — here's what Illinois law says and what to do next.
Statute: 775 ILCS 5/3-101 et seq. (Illinois Human Rights Act)
Deadline: 365 days
Penalty: Actual damages, compensatory damages, emotional distress damages, injunctive relief, civil penalties, and reasonable attorney fees
What is being denied a rental?
The Fair Housing Act passed in April 1968, a week after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated — Lyndon Johnson used the political window to push it through a Senate that had killed similar bills for years. It makes it illegal for landlords, real estate agents, lenders, sellers, and homeowners associations to discriminate based on seven protected classes: race, color, national origin, religion, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity after Bostock), familial status (having children under 18), and disability. The 1988 amendments added familial status and disability; 2020 HUD guidance extended sex to LGBTQ+ identity.
Discrimination doesn't have to be obvious to be illegal. Refusing to rent to you outright is one form, but so are steering (suggesting you'd be happier in a different neighborhood), claiming a unit is "just rented" when it isn't, charging you a higher deposit than other applicants, applying screening criteria selectively, or running ads with discriminatory language. Texas Department of Housing v. Inclusive Communities Project (2015) confirmed that disparate-impact theory also applies — neutral-sounding policies that fall hardest on a protected group can be illegal even without intent.
What to Do If You're Being Discriminated Against in Housing
Step 1: Document while it's fresh. Save emails, texts, voicemails, screenshots of the rental listing (especially Craigslist/Zillow listings that often disappear), and notes from every conversation with dates and times. Memory fades fast in these cases.
Step 2: File with HUD. Fair Housing Hotline at 1-800-669-9777 or online at hud.gov. The deadline is one year from the discriminatory act — short by litigation standards.
Step 3: Check your state or city protections too. Many states cover additional classes federal law doesn't — source of income (Section 8 voucher discrimination is illegal in CA, NY, MA, NJ, IL, WA, OR, CO, MN, DC, and dozens of cities), marital status, age, student status. State agencies sometimes move faster than HUD.
Step 4: Get a fair housing organization involved. Local fair housing nonprofits can run "testers" — paired applicants of different races or family sizes — to verify the discrimination. This is some of the most powerful evidence in housing cases.
Step 5: Consider a federal lawsuit. You have two years to sue under the FHA in federal court, with or without going through HUD first. Many fair housing attorneys work on contingency.
How Illinois differs from federal law
Illinois provides broader housing discrimination protections than federal law:
- Illinois Human Rights Act (775 ILCS 5): Adds protected classes beyond the federal Fair Housing Act, including source of income (Section 8 vouchers), sexual orientation, gender identity, military status, arrest record, and order of protection status.
- Source of income protection: Landlords cannot refuse to rent to you because you use Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers or other government rental assistance. This is a state-level protection not available under federal law.
- Chicago Fair Housing Ordinance: Provides additional protections including source of income, parental status, and military discharge status.
- No exemption for small landlords: Illinois does not exempt owner-occupied buildings with 4 or fewer units (unlike the federal FHA exemption).
Additional steps in Illinois
File a complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) at dhr.illinois.gov or call (312) 814-6200. In Chicago, file with the Chicago Commission on Human Relations at (312) 744-4111. You can also file with HUD.
What you should NOT do
Don't talk yourself out of it. Discrimination rarely comes with a slur. "Just rented," suddenly higher deposit requirements, suggestions about neighborhoods you'd "like better" — these all count.
Don't sleep on the deadlines. HUD: 1 year. Federal court: 2 years. State agency deadlines vary but are often shorter.
Don't accept discriminatory terms to "just get the place." A higher rent or stricter lease offered to you for a discriminatory reason is itself a violation — and your acceptance doesn't waive the claim.
Don't forget to log retaliation. Once you file, the landlord cannot legally evict you, raise your rent, or cut services in response. Document any of those acts and add them to the existing complaint.
You shouldn't have to hire a lawyer to assert your rights.
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Generate your housing discrimination →This page is general legal information for Illinois, not legal advice for your specific situation. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on facts we don't know. For advice on your matter, consult a licensed attorney in Illinois.