Illinois fair housing practice
Illinois fair housing questions: protected status, screening and equal access
For an Illinois fair housing question, identify the protected basis and the housing action. Then check the applicable duty and any exact exemption. State protections include lawful source of income, immigration status and the defined arrest record. A policy applied to everyone can still need an accommodation or fail the law's criteria test. Try the six questions below before opening their explanations.
Last reviewed:
Which protections belong in an Illinois housing answer?
Use 775 ILCS 5/1-103 with the housing definitions in 3-101 and the prohibitions in 3-102. IDHR's current housing rights page provides a practical overview. The Illinois bases include:
- Race, color, religion, national origin and ancestry.
- Age 40 and over, sex, marital status, sexual orientation including gender identity, pregnancy and reproductive health decisions.
- Disability, military status, unfavorable military discharge and order-of-protection status.
- Familial status, immigration status, lawful source of income and the defined arrest record.
Definitions matter. Familial status covers the stated relationships involving children under 18 and extends to pregnancy and securing legal custody. Immigration status includes actual or perceived citizenship or immigration status. An age limit, military category or record type should be read under its own definition, not an everyday shorthand.
The examples here concern housing. The state definition of real estate transaction is broader, including specified brokering, appraisal and financial-assistance activities. Do not assume every federal housing exemption or employment-screening rule supplies the Illinois real estate answer.
Which action makes the protected basis relevant?
| Facts | What to analyze | Source |
|---|---|---|
| A qualified consumer is told an available property is unavailable because of protected status | False availability or denial of access | 3-102(A),(E) |
| Different deposits, terms, maintenance or services because of protected status | Unequal terms or facilities | 3-102(B) |
| A broker withholds a bona fide offer or refuses negotiation for a protected reason | Offer handling and negotiation | 3-102(C),(D) |
| A listing or statement expresses a protected occupant preference | Publication and knowing discriminatory listing restrictions | 3-102(F),(G) |
| A buyer is channeled to selected areas because of perceived religion | Steering and unequal access | 3-102; IDHR housing examples |
| Owners are alarmed into selling because a specified protected group may enter the area | Blockbusting | 3-103 |
3-103 addresses its specified solicitation, statements and alarm intended to induce an owner to sell or lease. A completed sale or actual neighborhood price decline is not required to recognize the prohibited solicitation. Ordinary factual market information is different from using protected-group fears to induce the transaction.
Section 3-102(H) separately reaches discriminatory criteria or methods when they are unnecessary to a substantial, legitimate, nondiscriminatory interest, or that interest could be served by a less discriminatory practice. A uniform rule is not automatically lawful merely because it has the same wording for every applicant.
How should voucher and other lawful income be screened?
Lawful source of income is protected statewide. IDHR's current source-of-income FAQ addresses wages, housing assistance, Social Security, retirement, child support and other lawful support. Do not refuse a whole category, delay its application or advertise no Section 8 because ordinary program paperwork or inspections are inconvenient.
Reasonable screening can continue. Accept appropriate proof of non-employment income instead of demanding that every applicant produce a wage stub. For a minimum-income standard, IDHR directs providers to use the applicant's portion of rent. Its guidance does not require lowering the stated rent for a subsidy, but prohibits raising it to avoid subsidized applicants.
| Item | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly rent | Fictional stated rent | $1,800 |
| Verified subsidy paid to the provider | Fictional program amount | $1,400 |
| Applicant's portion | $1,800 minus $1,400 | $400 |
| Hypothetical three-times comparison | 3 times the $400 applicant portion | $1,200 |
Using $5,400, three times the full rent, as the required non-subsidized income ignores the $1,400 assistance in this example. The three-times factor is hypothetical, not a statutory requirement or approval of every ratio. A subsidy also does not automatically resolve every otherwise lawful qualification question. Evaluate the actual program, payment obligation and criteria.
An arrest record has its own definition in 1-103(B-5): an arrest not leading to conviction, a juvenile record, or the specified expunged, sealed or impounded information. Do not turn an arrest alone into proof of misconduct. 3-102.5 separately preserves the ability to prohibit unlawful activity on the premises. A private screening policy needs its own analysis under current state and applicable local requirements.
Does an exemption remove the advertising restriction?
3-106 lists distinct exemptions. Its private single-family sale provision requires, among other conditions, an owner with no more than three such homes, the stated last-resident condition and no broker or broker-agent services. Do not replace all those elements with the phrase private owner.
The owner-occupied small-building provision covers its stated building of no more than four independently living families when the owner resides in one accommodation. The private-room provision has separate residence or return conditions. The private-sale, owner-occupied-building and private-room provisions expressly preserve 3-102(F)'s publication restriction. They are not blanket permission to advertise a discriminatory preference.
Reasonable occupancy restrictions and qualifying housing for older persons are separate statutory topics. Neither is established merely by writing adults only in an ordinary rental ad. Check the exact exemption and the particular law before relying on it; this page does not decide an individual shared-home or senior-housing arrangement.
How do disability requests change the ordinary process?
3-102.1(C) addresses reasonable modifications and necessary accommodations. Evaluate an exception to a parking lottery as a policy request. Do not deny it solely because the lottery applies to everyone. Evaluate necessity, reasonableness and the applicable limitations on the actual facts.
A physical modification has different payment and restoration conditions. The statute limits reasonable rental restoration to the interior, bars increasing the customary security deposit because of disability and permits a qualified restoration escrow under its conditions. Other funding, accessibility or design duties can change the analysis. Use the reviewed accommodation and modification comparison for those distinctions.
For assistance animals, 310 ILCS 120/5 separately includes a qualifying emotional support or service animal under federal or Illinois housing law. Section 10 bars pet-related deposits, fees, assessments and special liability coverage for qualifying assistance animals, while preserving its ordinary actual-damage rule, reasonable-wear exception and individualized denial conditions. Approval is not automatic from an animal label or a purchased certificate. When disability or need is not apparent or known, the Act permits the specified reliable documentation; it does not require a specific diagnosis. Use the current state requirements and the linked comparison's separate federal enforcement discussion.
Try six original Illinois fair housing questions
Assume covered housing and no unmentioned exemption. These are original examples, not released or recalled PSI questions. Choose first, then read why each choice works or fails.
1. The owner wants every voucher applicant rejected
An owner directs a broker to reject all Housing Choice Voucher applicants because inspections and paperwork take time. What is the best response?
- Follow the direction because it concerns procedure
- Advertise no Section 8 to avoid applications
- Refuse the blanket restriction and use lawful screening through the responsible broker
- Accept vouchers only from applicants without children
Show answer 1
C is correct. A does not remove source-of-income discrimination. B publishes the restriction. C preserves equal opportunity and a lawful process. D adds a familial-status restriction.
Change the fact: the applicant has a specific, independently established qualification problem. Analyze that issue under lawful criteria; the voucher alone still does not decide the application.
3. An arrest never led to conviction
A covered applicant is rejected solely for an arrest that did not lead to conviction. No other conduct or qualification problem is stated. Which conclusion fits the Illinois definition?
- The stated nonconviction arrest is within the protected arrest-record definition
- Every arrest conclusively proves criminal conduct
- Arrest-record protection applies only at work
- Public availability automatically removes the housing protection
Show answer 3
A is correct. A connects 1-103(B-5) to 3-102. B substitutes accusation for proof. C overlooks the housing provision. D invents a public-record exception.
Change the fact: the problem is independently established unlawful activity on the premises. Section 3-102.5 preserves the stated prohibition on that activity. Do not assume every resulting action or private record policy is automatically lawful.
4. An owner lives in a small building
An owner-occupied building meets 3-106(B)'s stated conditions. The owner advertises no families with children. Does that exemption remove 3-102(F)?
- Yes, because the owner lives there
- Yes, if the ad appears only online
- Yes, if the owner writes it without a broker
- No, the provision expressly preserves the publication restriction
Show answer 4
D is correct. A ignores the express limit. B invents a medium exception. C adds a condition that does not remove the preserved restriction. D applies the stated statute.
Change the fact: an ordinary ad neutrally states the room dimensions and rent. Those facts alone do not express the same protected preference; evaluate the complete ad and conduct.
5. A parking lottery blocks an accessible space
A tenant requests a reasonably necessary disability-related exception to a parking lottery. The provider refuses to evaluate it because everyone follows the same lottery. What is the correct first classification?
- Blockbusting
- An automatic requirement to rebuild every parking area
- A request for reasonable accommodation of a policy
- A waiver of all lease obligations
Show answer 5
C is correct. A concerns inducing owner transactions. B invents construction requirements from a policy request. C identifies the request needing individualized consideration. D overstates its effect.
Change the fact: the request also includes a ramp. Identify the physical work and applicable duties separately; do not assign every cost from the fact that some construction is involved.
6. The broker chooses neighborhoods by perceived religion
A broker assumes a buyer's religion and withholds otherwise suitable listings outside neighborhoods the broker associates with that religion. What conduct does this describe?
- A source-of-income verification
- Steering based on protected status
- Blockbusting an owner into selling
- A required accommodation in every home search
Show answer 6
B is correct. A is unrelated to the reason for the listings decision. B identifies restricted housing choice. C describes a different owner-focused inducement. D invents a duty to filter by inferred religion.
Change the fact: the buyer chooses an objective commute limit, and the broker applies it consistently to suitable inventory. That fact alone is not the protected-status steering described here.
Illinois fair housing questions answered
Does following the owner's instruction protect a broker from discrimination rules?
No. The Illinois provisions apply to brokers as well as owners. Section 3-102(G) also prohibits knowingly accepting or retaining a listing when the specified discrimination is intended. Refuse the discriminatory instruction, involve the responsible sponsoring broker and use a lawful process. Keeping a note of the instruction does not make carrying it out lawful.
Does arrest-record protection mean every criminal-history decision is prohibited?
No. The defined arrest record includes nonconviction arrests, juvenile records and the specified expunged, sealed or impounded information. It is not identical to every conviction record. Section 3-102.5 permits prohibiting unlawful activity on the premises. That does not make an arrest proof of wrongdoing or approve every conviction-screening policy; other applicable laws and the criteria rule still matter.
Are reasonable accommodations and modifications the same?
An accommodation changes a rule, policy, practice or service when reasonably necessary for equal housing use. A modification physically changes existing premises. Section 3-102.1(C)(1) generally addresses modifications at the disabled person's expense, but other duties can change who pays. A parking-policy exception is not automatically a tenant-funded construction project. Classify the actual request and check the applicable requirements.
Explain the fact behind each answer
The June 24, 2026 PSI Illinois outline, III.G and III.G.1, names the Human Rights Act and fair housing advertising rules. The whole Additional Illinois Laws and Regulations area is 25%, or 10 of 40 scored state broker questions. Those ten are not all fair housing questions. Repeating these six examples does not establish exam readiness.
Use the fair housing violation comparison for related conduct and Illinois advertising practice for the separate identity rules. If phone practice fits your routine, you can download Pass Illinois for additional broker-exam preparation.