It is hereby declared to be the public policy of this Village
and the purpose of this Article 4, in the exercise of its powers under
Article VII, Section 6(a) of the Illinois Constitution and its power
to regulate for the protection of the public health, safety, morals
and welfare to ensure fair housing and the freedom from discrimination
throughout the community; to protect the community from the effects
of residential segregation by race, color, religion, sex, national
origin, ancestry, age, marital status, familial status, physical or
mental disability, military status, and to secure to its citizens
the economic, social and professional benefits of living in a stable
society.
For the purpose of this Article 4, the following definitions
shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different
meaning.
Includes sublease, assignment, or rental and includes any
contract to do any of the foregoing.
Includes the national origin of an ancestor.
Any person who holds legal or equitable title to, or owns
any beneficial interest in, any real property or who holds legal or
equitable title to shares of, or holds any beneficial interest in,
any real estate cooperative which owns any real property.
Includes any contract to purchase.
The purchase, sale, exchange, rental or lease of any real
property, or an option to do any of the foregoing.
Any real estate, vacant land, building or structure within
the Village limits.
Includes any contract to sell, exchange, or to convey, transfer
or assign legal or equitable title to or a beneficial interest in
real property.
The following acts, as set forth in Sections 17-4-4 through 17-4-11 of this Code, are prohibited acts by an owner, real estate broker, real estate salesperson or any other person acting as an agent for the owner of any real estate and are hereby declared to constitute unlawful real estate practices, and the commission or omission of any of these acts shall be deemed a violation of this Article 4.
It shall be unlawful and an unlawful real estate practice for
any person to represent to any person that any real property is not
available for inspection, purchase, sale, lease, or occupancy when
in fact it is so available, or otherwise to withhold real property
from any person because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin,
ancestry, age, marital status, familial status, physical or mental
disability, or military status.
It shall be unlawful and an unlawful real estate practice for
any real estate agent or other person to refuse to receive or to fail
to transmit a bona fide offer for the purchase, sale, exchange or
lease of any real property because of the race, color, religion, sex,
national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, familial status, physical
or mental disability, or military status of the person making such
offer.
It shall be unlawful and an unlawful real estate practice for
any person to refuse to negotiate for, enter into, or perform any
sale or rental of any real property, because of the race, color, religion,
sex, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, familial status,
physical or mental disability, or military status of any party to
such sale or rental, or of any member of the family of any such party,
or of any person using or occupying or intending to use or occupy
such real property, or of any person using or occupying any real property
in the area in which such real property is located.
It shall be unlawful and an unlawful housing practice for any
person to sell or rent or offer to sell or rent real property on terms,
conditions or privileges that discriminate between persons because
of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, marital
status, familial status, physical or mental disability, or military
status.
It shall be unlawful and an unlawful real estate practice for
any lending institution to refuse to negotiate for, enter into or
perform any agreement to lend or guarantee the loan of funds, or in
making, agreeing to make, arranging or negotiating any loan or guarantee
of funds, for the purpose of financing the purchase or sale, construction,
lease, rehabilitation, improvement, renovation or repair of any real
property, or to offer or agree to terms, conditions or privileges
that discriminate between persons because of race, color, religion,
sex, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, familial status,
physical or mental disability, or military status of any party to
such agreement, or of any member of the family of any such party,
or of the residents of the area in which such real property is located.
It shall be unlawful and an unlawful real estate practice for
any person, for the purpose of inducing any other person to enter
into a real estate transaction with such person, his or her principal
or his or her agent:
(A)
To represent that a change has occurred, will occur or may occur
with respect to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry,
age, marital status, familial status, physical or mental disability,
or military status in the composition of the owners or occupants in
any block, neighborhood or area in which the real property (which
is the subject of the real estate transaction) is located; or
(B)
To represent that a change, with respect to the race, color, religion,
sex, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, familial status,
physical or mental disability, or military status in the composition
of the owners or occupants in any block, neighborhood, or area will
result in the lowering of property values, or in an increase in criminal
or antisocial behavior, or in a decline in the quality of schools,
in such blocks, neighborhood or area.
It shall be unlawful and an unlawful real estate practice for
any person:
(A)
To aid, abet, incite or coerce a person to commit an unlawful real
estate practice.
(B)
To deliberately and knowingly refuse examination of copies of any
listing of real property in the Village to any person because of race,
color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status,
familial status, physical or mental disability, or military status.
(C)
To enter into a listing agreement which prohibits the inspection,
sale, lease or occupancy of real property to any person because of
race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, marital
status, familial status, physical or mental disability, or military
status.
(D)
To knowingly and willfully interfere with the performance of a duty
or exercise of a power of the corporate authorities in a fair housing
matter.
No provision of this Article 4 shall be construed to prohibit
any of the following:
(A)
Restricting rental or sale of a housing accommodation that is authorized,
approved, financed or subsidized in whole or in part for the benefit
of that age group by a unit of state, local or federal government;
or when the duly recorded initial declaration of a condominium or
community association limits such housing accommodations to persons
above the age of 50, provided that a person or the immediate family
of a person owning or renting a unit in such housing accommodation
prior to the recording of the initial declaration shall not be deemed
to be in violation of the age restriction as long as the person or
person's immediate family continues to own or reside in the housing
accommodation.
(B)
A religious organization, association or society, or any not-for-profit
institution or organization operated, supervised or controlled by
or in conjunction with a religious organization, association or society,
from limiting the sale, rental or occupancy of a dwelling which it
owns or operates for other than a commercial purpose to persons of
the same religion, or from giving preference to such persons of the
same religion, or from giving preference to such persons, unless membership
in such religion is restricted on account of race, color or national
origin.
(C)
Restricting the rental of rooms in a housing accommodation to persons
of one sex.
Any person who claims to have been injured by an unfair real
estate practice or believes that he or she will be irrevocably injured
by an unfair real estate practice that is about to occur may file
a complaint within 60 days after the alleged violation with the Village.
(A)
The complaint shall be in writing, under oath, and shall contain
such information and be in such form as the Village requires, including,
but not limited to, the name and address of the complainant and of
every person against whom the complaint is made, and shall set out
the facts giving rise to the complaint. The complaint form must be
completed in order to file a claim with the Village of Lincolnwood.
Questions or completed complaint forms should be directed to the Office
of the Village Manager.
(B)
Within 15 days after receipt of such a complaint, the Village shall
serve or cause to be served, in person, or by certified mail, a copy
of the complaint on the person or persons who allegedly committed
or are about to commit the alleged unfair real estate practice.
(C)
The Village Manager or his or her designee shall proceed to investigate
said complaint.
(1)
If, in the course of the investigation, the Village Manager
determines that the complaint does not constitute a violation of this
Article 4, the Village Manager shall dismiss the complaint.
(2)
If, in the course of the investigation, the Village Manager
determines that the complaint constitutes a violation of this Article
4, the Village Manager shall try to eliminate or correct the alleged
unfair real estate practice by means of voluntary and informal methods
of conference, conciliation and persuasion.
(D)
No person shall refuse or fail to comply with any subpoena, order
or decision issued in the course of or as a result of an investigation
of a complaint.
(A)
If the Village Manager determines that a conciliation conference
is necessary, the Village Manager shall:
(1)
Notify the complainant and respondent of the time, place and
date of the conciliation session at least 10 days prior thereto, and
either or both parties shall appear at the conciliation session in
person or by attorney; and
(2)
Attempt by all accepted methods of conciliation and lawful persuasion
to resolve the grievance delineated in the complaint.
(B)
Nothing said or done in the course of such informal conciliation endeavors may be made public or used as evidence in a subsequent proceeding under this Section 17-4-13 without the written consent of the persons concerned.
(C)
If, within 60 calendar days after a charge has been received or initiated,
the Village Manager determines that attempts at conciliation would
not be in furtherance of the objectives of this Article 4, or that
the complaint cannot be resolved by conciliation, the Village Manager
shall so report to the Village Board.
The Village Board of Trustees, within 60 calendar days after receiving the matter from the Village Manager, may direct that the matter be filed in the appropriate court of competent jurisdiction in the manner and form set forth in Section 17-4-17 of this Code, or alternatively set the matter for a hearing before the Board of Trustees.
(A)
The President and Board of Trustees, or a duly appointed committee
thereof, shall, upon due and reasonable notice to all parties, conduct
a hearing on the complaint.
(1)
All parties shall be entitled to be represented by legal counsel,
and shall have the right to call witnesses in their own behalf and
to cross-examine witnesses.
(2)
All parties to the proceedings may apply to the Village Board
of Trustees to have subpoenas issued in the name of the Village Board.
(3)
Testimony taken at the hearing shall be under oath or affirmation,
and the transcript shall be made and filed in the office of the Village
Manager.
(4)
No fewer than three of the same members of the Village Board,
or a duly appointed committee thereof, must be present at all times.
Only those members who have attended all hearings on a matter shall
participate in the determination of the complaint.
(B)
When all testimony has been taken, the President and Board of Trustees
shall render their decision in a written report with findings of fact
that shall be served upon the complainant and the respondent by certified
mail, within 60 calendar days following the closing of the hearing.
(1)
If the Village Board finds that the respondent has not engaged
in any violation of this Article 4, it shall dismiss the complaint.
(2)
If the Village Board finds that the respondent has engaged in
a violation of this Article 4, it shall:
(a)
Institute proceedings to enforce the provisions of this Article
4 against any person found in violation.
(b)
Apply to any court of competent jurisdiction for:
(i)
An order restraining any person from violating
any provision of this Article 4; or
(ii)
Such other or further relief as may seem to the
court appropriate for the enforcement of this Article 4 and the elimination
of violations including, but not limited to, actual damages and/or
attorney fees/costs for award to the complainant.
(c)
Notify the appropriate State of Illinois licensing agency of
such violation as set forth in Section 17-4-19 of this Code.
Any person aggrieved by the decision of the Village Board shall
have the right to appeal for reconsideration by the full Village Board.
This appeal shall be initiated by filing with the Village Manager,
within seven calendar days after the Village Board's decision a written
statement, under oath, setting forth specifically the grounds for
reconsideration. These grounds shall be supported by argument and
served on all parties at the time they are filed with the Village
Manager. The Village Board, after reviewing the statement shall:
(A)
Render a revised decision notifying all parties within 30 calendar
days after the filing of the statement for reconsideration;
(B)
Issue and serve on all parties a written order for rehearing the
case, citing the cause and additional evidence; or
(C)
Uphold the decision.
|
The decision of the Village Board shall be final.
|
Any person aggrieved by the violation of any provision of this
Article 4, who has exhausted the remedies provided by this Article
4, may apply to any court of competent jurisdiction for appropriate
relief from such violation, including:
Any person, firm, corporation or other entity who violates any
provision of this Article 4 shall be fined in an amount set forth
in the Annual Fee Resolution.[1] A separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day
or part thereof on which a violation occurs or continues or is permitted
to occur or continue.
The Village Manager shall notify the Division of Banking of
the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (or
any other appropriate agency of the State of Illinois) of any licensed
real estate broker or salesperson found to have violated any provision
of this Article 4.
