Lawsuit Claims Source of Income Discrimination Violates Illinois Human Rights Act
Mikia Knighten, mother and resident of Lansing, IL, loses housing opportunity after numerous discriminatory denials for rental units in Chicago
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 8, 2024
CONTACT:
Zindy Marquez
Director of Communications
Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights
312.202.3657 (office)
zmarquez@clccrul.org
Lawsuit Claims Source of Income Discrimination Violates Illinois Human Rights Act
Mikia Knighten, mother and resident of Lansing, IL, loses housing opportunity after numerous discriminatory denials for rental units in Chicago
CHICAGO, IL: Mikia Knighten, mother of one and current resident of Lansing, Illinois, has filed a lawsuit after experiencing source of income discrimination in violation of the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA) and seeks redress for the loss of her housing voucher, loss of housing opportunity, and emotional harm. This is one of the first lawsuits filed in Cook County under the IHRA’s expanded protections against source of income discrimination, enacted in 2022 and effective January 1, 2023. Ms. Knighten is represented in this lawsuit by Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Eimer Stahl LLP.
In October 2022, after spending eight years on the wait list, Ms. Knighten was elated to find out she would be receiving a Housing Choice Voucher (“voucher”) from the Chicago Housing Authority (“CHA”). The voucher program is the federal government’s largest housing subsidy program for low-income families, the elderly, and people with disabilities. The program is funded by the federal government, administered by local housing authorities, and operates by providing a subsidy that individuals use to rent an apartment in the private market. The tenant pays 30% of their household income towards rent and utilities, and CHA pays the rest. This allows individuals with a voucher to access safe, decent housing while the property owner is guaranteed market-rate rent.
Aside from increasing affordability, the program also aims to create more racially and economically diverse communities by providing access to quality housing in amenity-rich neighborhoods. Ms. Knighten believed that renting with a voucher would mean a new beginning for herself and her young daughter. The voucher would provide greater financial stability and enable her family to move into an area of Chicago with better schools and more consistent public safety.
Ms. Knighten was given a limited time window to secure housing with the voucher. Mindful of the time constraints, Ms. Knighten diligently searched for an apartment for months, and was always up front with landlords and agents about her voucher. Yet each time that Ms. Knighten reached out about a promising rental property, the landlord or agent turned her away or stopped responding after learning that she intended to use a government voucher to pay a portion of her rent.
After numerous rejections and two extensions from CHA, she ultimately lost her voucher and was removed from the program after not being able to secure housing.
“The situation is very unfortunate, and I feel robbed of an opportunity,” explained Ms. Knighten. “I just want to make sure that something like this never happens again. Discrimination on any level is unacceptable.”
Stymied at every turn, Ms. Knighten’s eight-year wait for a housing voucher ended with disappointment. She and her daughter were denied the affordable, safe, and opportunity-rich housing they deserved simply because they were recipients of public assistance. Given the excitement and hope that she felt joining the program after nearly a decade of waiting, Ms. Knighten found the discrimination she experienced and the loss of her voucher extremely difficult to process and accept—especially since CHA’s voucher waitlist is currently closed and has been since 2014.
This type of discrimination is unlawful in Illinois. In 2022, the General Assembly amended the IHRA to make it a civil rights violation for an owner or agent to refuse to rent to an individual based on that person’s “source of income,” including housing vouchers and other forms of public assistance. Nonetheless, source of income discrimination remains prevalent throughout Chicago and has a disproportionate impact on Black families, like Ms. Knighten and her daughter.
“Black heads of household constitute 86% of voucher participants in Chicago. This means that denying voucher holders the opportunity to lease an apartment disproportionately impacts Black families.” said Micaela Alvarez, Program Counsel at Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. “Refusing to rent to individuals with a voucher undermines the primary purpose of the voucher program, which is to provide access to more affordable housing in areas of opportunity.”
This lawsuit is one of the first filed in Cook County under the new protections that the IHRA provides. Through this lawsuit, Ms. Knighten hopes to raise awareness about source of income discrimination, hold the defendants accountable for their role in perpetuating it, and help ensure that property owners, management companies, and real estate agents better understand their obligations under the IHRA.
“Eimer Stahl is proud to represent Ms. Knighten in this pathbreaking litigation,” said Greg Schweizer, attorney at Eimer Stahl and co-chair of Chicago Lawyers’ Committee’s NextGen Board. “While this lawsuit cannot provide Ms. Knighten the housing she deserved, we look forward to securing some measure of justice for her and helping to prevent the same discrimination from affecting other Illinois residents who hold housing vouchers. We hope that Ms. Knighten’s story leads real estate owners, agencies, and agents to educate themselves about the pernicious effects of source-of-income discrimination and to ensure that they are marketing and renting properties consistent with the law.”
Read the full complaint here.
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Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights
Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights is a non-partisan, non-profit group of civil rights lawyers and advocates working to secure racial equity and economic opportunity for all. We provide legal representation through partnerships with the private bar, and we collaborate with grassroots organizations and other advocacy groups to implement community-based solutions that advance civil rights. For more information, visit www.clccrul.org or call (312) 630-9744.