County OKs limits on role of criminal history in housing decisions

Rules that seek to end housing discrimination based on past convictions were approved by the Cook County Board on Thursday, ending a months-long battle between landlords and real estate figures and advocates for people with criminal histories.

Troy O’Quin, who has compared having past run-ins with the law to wearing a scarlet letter, hailed the Thursday passage of the rules as a “historic day” and challenged the commissioners to “stand together and vote unanimously to accept the rules that have been filed.”

“That would speak to the volume of importance that this is for all the residents of Cook County,” O’Quin said. “It would show that this board is ready to see a day of equity in Cook County.”

He did not get that unanimity.

The board voted 12-4 to approve the rules for the “Just Housing” ordinance, which is actually an amendment to the county’s housing ordinance.

Rachel Hinton/Chicago Sun-Times

The measure came before the county’s Rules and Administration Committee on Wednesday. It was approved there in a 5-4 vote.

The same four commissioners voted no on Wednesday and Thursday: Chicago Democrats Bridget Degnen and John Daley and the board’s two Republican members, Sean Morrison of Palos Park and Peter Silvestri of Elmwood Park.

On Wednesday, Degnen, who is vice chair of the Rules Committee, said she agreed with “the ordinance and the rules” but objected to only allowing housing providers to consider convictions within the past three years when deciding whether to accept a tenant or home buyer.

“It’s just the blanket prohibition of considering criminal history after three years,” she said on Wednesday. “It doesn’t seem to be the most reasonable way to implement the ordinance.”

After that vote, Commissioner Brandon Johnson, D-Chicago, who championed the passage of the amendment in April, said he was “glad” the rules for that amendment could move forward.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to correct age-long wrongs that have systematically deprived black families, in particular, access to housing,” Johnson said after the measure passed. “This will open opportunities to individuals who have been stigmatized by their social economic status, and the goal has always been to give these families access to housing in Cook County.”