[Added 8-12-2009 by Ord. No. 09-08-1676]
A.
In furthering
the policy of the State of Illinois as expressed in its Constitution
and other laws, in order that the safety and general welfare, peace
and health of all the inhabitants of Stephenson County may be ensured,
it is hereby declared the policy of Stephenson County, Illinois, to
assure equal opportunity to all residents to live in decent, sanitary,
healthful, standard living quarters, regardless of race, color, religion,
national origin or ancestry, sex, creed, or physical disability.
B.
It is
the policy of Stephenson County, Illinois, that no owner, lessee,
sublessee, assignee, managing agent, or other person, firm or corporation
having the right to sell, rent, or lease (or otherwise control) any
housing accommodation and/or real property subject to and/or governed
by this chapter, or any agent of these, shall refuse to sell, rent,
lease, or otherwise deny to or withhold from any person or group of
persons such housing accommodations and/or real property because of
race, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, sex, creed, or
disability of such person or persons or discriminate against any person
or persons because of race, color, religion, national origin or ancestry,
sex, creed or disability in the conditions, terms, privileges of the
sale, rental or lease of any housing accommodation and/or real property
or in the furnishing of facilities and/or services in connection therewith.
C.
Relocation
shall be carried out in a manner that will promote maximum choice
within the community's total housing supply; lessen racial, ethnic,
and economic concentrations; and facilitate desegregation and racially
inclusive patterns of occupancy and use of public and private facilities.
Unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context,
the following terms shall have the meaning as described in this section
and as used in this article:
Housing which is in sound, clean, and weathertight condition
in conformance with applicable local, state, and national codes.
Any difference expressed in any way toward a person or persons
in the terms of the sale, exchange, lease, rental or financing for
housing accommodation and/or real property in regard to such sale,
exchange, rental, lease or finance because of race, color, religion,
national origin or ancestry, sex, creed, or disability of such person.
Any person, institution or business entity of any kind who
or which loans money to persons and receives as security for said
loans a secured interest of any kind in the real property of the borrower.
Includes any building, structure, or portion thereof which
is used or occupied, maintained, arranged or designed to be used or
occupied as a home, residence or sleeping place of one or more human
beings, or any real estate so used, designed or intended for such
use.
Any person or persons who hold legal or equitable title to,
or own any beneficial interest in, any real property or who hold legal
or equitable title to shares of, or hold any beneficial interest in,
any real estate cooperative which owns any real property and/or housing
accommodations.
Any person, partnership, association, corporation and/or
agent thereof who or which, for a fee or other valuable consideration,
offers, sells, purchases, exchanges or rents, or negotiates for the
sale, purchase, exchange or rental of a housing accommodation and/or
real property of another, or collects rental for the use of housing
accommodation and/or real property of another.
Any real estate, vacant land, building, structure or housing
accommodations subject to and/or governed by this chapter.
A.
It shall
be unlawful for any owner of real estate, lessee, sublessee, real
estate broker or salesman, financial institution or employee of the
financial institution, or advertiser, or agent of any or all of the
foregoing, to discriminate against any person or persons because of
their race, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, sex, creed,
or disability with regard to the sale, exchange or rental, or any
dealing concerning any housing accommodation and/or real property.
B.
In addition
to the foregoing, it shall also be unlawful for any real estate broker
or employee thereof, owner or other person, or financial institution
dealing with housing or real property subject to and/or governed by
this chapter:
(1)
To
discriminate against any person in the availability of or the price,
terms, conditions, or privileges of any kind relating to the sale,
rental, lease, or occupancy of any housing accommodation or real property
or in furnishing of any facilities or services in connection therewith.
(2)
To
publish or circulate, or cause to be published or circulated, any
notice, statement or advertisement, or to announce a policy, or to
use any form of application for the purchase, lease, rental or financing
of real property, or to make any record of inquiry in connection with
the prospective purchase, rental or lease of such real estate, which
expresses, directly or indirectly, any discrimination as to race,
color, religion, national origin or ancestry, sex, creed or disability
of any person.
(3)
To
discriminate in connection with lending money, guaranteeing loans,
accepting mortgages or otherwise obtaining or making available funds
for the purchase, acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, repair
or maintenance of any housing accommodation and/or real property.
(4)
To
solicit for sale, lease, or listing for the sale or lease of any housing
accommodation and/or real property on the grounds of loss of value
because of the present or prospective entry into any neighborhood
of any person or persons of any particular race, color, religion,
national origin or ancestry, sex, creed, or disability.
(5)
To
distribute or cause to be distributed written material or statements
designed to induce any owner or any housing accommodation and/or real
property to sell or lease his or her property because of any present
or prospective change in the race, color, religion, national origin
or ancestry, sex, creed, or disability of persons in the neighborhood.
(6)
To
make any misrepresentations concerning the listing for sale or the
anticipated listing for sale or the sale of any housing accommodation
and/or real property for the purpose of inducing or attempting to
induce the sale or listing for sale of any housing accommodation and/or
real property by representing that the presence or anticipated presence
of persons of any particular race, color, religion, national origin
or ancestry, sex, creed, or disability in the area will or may result
in the lowering of property values in the block, neighborhood or area
in which the property is located.
(7)
For
an owner to solicit any real estate broker to sell, rent or otherwise
deal with such owner's housing accommodations and/or real property
with any limitation on its sale based on race, color, religion, national
origin or ancestry, sex, creed, or disability.
(8)
For
an owner to refuse to sell, rent, or otherwise deal with any housing
accommodation and/or real property because of race, color, religion,
national origin or ancestry, sex, creed, or disability of the proposed
buyer or tenant.
C.
In addition
to the foregoing, it shall also be unlawful for an owner:
(1)
To
solicit any real estate broker to sell, rent or otherwise deal with
such owner's housing accommodations and/or real property with any
limitation on its sale based on race, color, religion, national origin
or ancestry, sex, creed, or disability.
(2)
To
refuse to sell, rent, or otherwise deal with any housing accommodation
and/or real property because of race, color, religion, national origin
or ancestry, sex, creed, or disability of the proposed buyer or tenant.
Any person convicted of violating any of the provisions of this article shall be punished as set forth in § 400-97 of this chapter. This section shall in no way abrogate or impair the right of Stephenson County Illinois, to specifically enforce, by any legal means, any of the provisions of this article.
