4.1 Illinois Fair Housing Law

The Illinois Human Rights Act (775 ILCS 5)

The Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA) governs housing discrimination in Illinois. Its Article 3 covers "real estate transactions" — sales, rentals, lending, brokerage, and advertising. The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) protects seven classes; Illinois layers many more on top, so the exam's favorite trap is asking which class is protected in Illinois but not federally.

Real Estate SalespersonFree exam prep with practice questions & AI tutor

Federal classes (7) vs. Illinois additions

Source of income is the newest high-yield addition: since 2023 a landlord generally cannot refuse a tenant solely because rent will be paid with a Housing Choice Voucher. Age protection applies to persons 40+ — younger-tenant preferences are not the protected angle.

Enforcement: the IDHR / Human Rights Commission split

The two-agency structure mirrors HUD (investigates) and an administrative law judge (decides). A complainant who receives a "substantial evidence" finding can proceed before the Commission or opt into circuit court.

How the IHRA interacts with federal law: Illinois has a HUD-recognized "substantially equivalent" agency, so a single complaint can be dual-filed with both IDHR and HUD. A licensee should never assume a transaction is governed by federal law alone — the broader Illinois class list almost always controls. For example, refusing a tenant for being a domestic-violence survivor with an order of protection is lawful under the bare FHA list but violates the IHRA.

Disability accommodations carry over

Like federal law, Illinois requires reasonable accommodations (rule changes, e.g., allowing a service animal in a no-pets building) and permitting reasonable modifications (physical changes, e.g., a ramp) at the tenant's expense for disabled occupants. The exam tests the accommodation-vs-modification split: a policy change is an accommodation; a structural change is a modification.

Filing a complaint

Note the contrast: a federal HUD housing complaint allows one year, but a federal court FHA suit allows two years. On the Illinois exam, "how long to file with IDHR" is one year.

Remedies the Commission can order

• Actual (compensatory) damages and out-of-pocket losses
• Emotional-distress damages
• Civil penalties (escalating for repeat offenders)
• Injunctive relief — make the unit available, cease the practice
• Attorney fees and costs

Prohibited practices (per se violations)

Sexual harassment and exemptions

The IHRA expressly bans quid pro quo (housing for sexual favors) and hostile-environment harassment in housing, plus retaliation for refusing advances or for filing a charge.

Note: A real estate licensee can NEVER discriminate, even when listing a property whose owner is personally exempt. Accepting a discriminatory instruction is itself a violation that can cost the license.

Exam-day decision rules

• If a fact pattern names a class on the Illinois list (ancestry, marital status, military, order of protection, source of income, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, age 40+), the conduct is illegal — the IHRA reaches it even when the FHA would not.
• An owner-occupant of a duplex can refuse a tenant for a non-protected reason, but the instant a licensee advertises the unit, fair-housing advertising rules apply to the licensee's own words.
• "Mrs. Murphy" never excuses discriminatory advertising — the advertising ban has no small-owner exemption.
• Steering and blockbusting are judged by conduct, not motive; a sincere belief that a buyer would "prefer" a neighborhood is no defense.

Keep separate the question of who is exempt from the question of what is prohibited: exemptions shrink the pool of covered owners, but licensee duties and advertising rules apply across the board.