Cook County Landlords Hit by Racial Discrimination Complaints

A Chicago non-profit has sued a pair of Cook County landlords, alleging that they discriminate against Black renters.

Legal Aid Chicago filed a lawsuit against Hunter Properties, claiming that the company automatically denies Black applicants if they have any prior eviction history, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Hunter Properties’ “No-Evictions Policy” states that prior eviction filings will result in an automatic rejection. The plaintiff alleges that this policy violates the federal 1968 Fair Housing Act by discriminating against Black people, and Black women more specifically, since these groups are often unfairly affected by eviction.

Legal Aid also claims that Hunter Properties is in violation of Illinois’ Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, which prohibits landlords from unjust residential leasing practices.

The lawsuit mirrors a civil rights complaint filed by HOPE Fair Housing Center against Oak Park Apartments, a company that owns 60 buildings with 1,500 units in Oak Park and its surrounding area. The complaint, filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, likewise alleges that Oak Park Apartments has committed racial discrimination and residential segregation through its leasing practices.

The plaintiffs in both cases want to ignite change at the local and national levels, as they are some of the first groups to challenge property owners’ eviction screening policies.

“We witness structural racism, discrimination and how that thwarts the health and stability of our clients and perpetuates poverty,” Dennericka Brooks, director of the Housing Practice Group at Legal Aid Chicago, told the outlet. “Our housing stock is already limited the way that it is, and the mere filing of an eviction should not be the reason that people are denied housing.”

Roughly 33 percent of renters in Cook County are Black, according to the county sheriff’s office. From September 2010 to March 2023, about 56 percent of people served with an eviction notice or officially evicted were Black. Most cases took place on Chicago’s South and West sides, which comprise mostly Black and Latino communities.

Part of the issue is that Hunter and Oak Park discriminate even if a renter wasn’t officially evicted. Sometimes a case may be dismissed in court or a renter simply receives a notice, which shouldn’t be held against someone, according to Brooks.

“It’s time that we see people as people and not an eviction record or filing, because it tells you absolutely nothing about their ability to be good tenants,” she told the outlet.

— Quinn Donoghue