Illinois General Assembly - Bill Status for HB1929

Amends the Illinois Human Rights Act. Provides that a formerly convicted person may petition the Department of Human Rights for a grant of protected class status. Provides that the Department may grant protected class status to a formerly convicted person who meets the following conditions: the person has complied with each term and condition of the person's parole, mandatory supervised release, probation, or conditional discharge; the person has obtained a high school diploma or received a high school equivalency certificate; the person is employed or actively seeking employment or is enrolled in or has successfully completed a vocational training or college educational program; the person has not been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor within the last 5 years; and the person has completed all sanctions imposed upon the person through due process of law. Provides that the Department shall adopt rules concerning what constitutes an intellectual or developmental disability that prevents the formerly convicted person from meeting some of the conditions and who is qualified to diagnose such a person. Provides that the Department shall adopt rules to carry out the provisions. Provides that protected class status previously granted to a formerly convicted person shall be revoked by the Department after notice and a hearing, if the formerly convicted person is subsequently convicted of a felony or misdemeanor. Provides that the revocation process shall be initiated by a petition that sets forth the date of the subsequent offense, description of the offense, date of conviction for the subsequent offense, and sentence imposed on the conviction. Provides that a copy of the petition and notice of the hearing date shall be served on the formerly convicted person.

Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Amends the Illinois Human Rights Act. Provides that it is a civil rights violation: (1) to inquire into a person's conviction record prior to making a conditional offer to sell, lease, or rent real property; (2) for an owner or any other person engaging in a real estate transaction, or for a real estate broker or salesman, because of conviction record, to (i) refuse to engage in a real estate transaction with a person or to discriminate in making available such a transaction, (ii) alter the terms, conditions, or privilege of a real estate transaction or in the furnishing of facilities or services in connection therewith, (iii) refuse to receive or to fail to transmit a bona fide offer to engage in a real estate transaction from a person, (iv) refuse to negotiate for a real estate transaction with a person, (v) represent to a person that real property is not available for inspection, sale, rental, or lease when in fact it is so available, or to fail to bring a property listing to his or her attention, or to refuse to permit him or her to inspect real property, (vi) make, print, circulate, post, mail, publish, or cause to be made, printed, circulated, posted, mailed, or published any notice, statement, advertisement, or sign, or use a form of application for a real estate transaction, or make a record or inquiry in connection with a prospective real estate transaction, that indicates any preference or limitation, or an intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination, or (vii) offer, solicit, accept, use, or retain a listing of real property with knowledge that discrimination in a real estate transaction is intended; (3) use a conviction record as a basis to rescind a conditional offer to sell, lease, or rent real property, unless there is a substantial relationship between one or more of the previous criminal offenses and the offer made, the granting or continuation of the offer would involve an unreasonable risk to property or to the safety or welfare of specific individuals or the general public, or the use is otherwise authorized by law; and (4) for a third-party loan modification service provider, because of a conviction record to refuse to engage in loan modification services, alter the terms, conditions, or privileges of such services, or discriminate in making such services available. Provides that nothing shall prohibit: the owner of an owner-occupied residential building with 4 or fewer units from making decisions regarding whether to rent to a person based upon that person's conviction record; inquiry into or the use of a conviction record if the inquiry or use is otherwise authorized by State or federal law; and use of a criminal conviction that results in a current sex offender registration requirement or a current child sex offender residency restriction.

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