Fair Housing / Lending News

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Illinois Law makers passed a historic marriage equality bill geared towards legalizing same sex unions in the State. The Illinois Senate passed the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act (SB 10) on a 34 to 21 vote. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago, called it "a vote for the history books." She stated "We have the opportunity today to welcome all families in Illinois as equally valued.” The debate over the bill was dominated by questions about protections for religious institutions and contains a compromise. Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Champaign, was the only Republican to vote yes. He worked on an amendment explicitly stating that no church or other religious organization would be forced to solemnize same-sex marriages. Governor Quinn praised the Senate’s passage of the bill. “Today, we are one step closer to marriage equality in Illinois,” Quinn said in a statement. “Couples across Illi...

Yesterday, Cook County Commissioner Jesus Garcia gave an interview on Chicago’s WBEZ radio about the Housing Choice Voucher program. (HCV). The commissioner is working together with housing advocates to amend the Cook County Human Rights Ordinance (CCHRO) to include protections for housing choice voucher holders. The Ordinance currently protects individuals from discrimination on the basis of a person’s source of income (i.e., child support, social security). The CCHRO however specifically exempts from protection persons with “Section 8” Housing Choice Vouchers. Presently, housing providers can and do deny qualified households solely because they have a Housing Choice Voucher. Studies have shown that housing providers often refuse to rent to voucher holders as a pretext for other types of illegal discrimination such as race, familial status, and disability. This keeps African-Americans, Latinos, families, and people with disabilities in poor, segregated, and low opportunity town...