Can a landlord refuse Section 8 in Skokie? No — here is the law

"No Section 8" became illegal in Skokie twice. Cook County's Human Rights Ordinance has long listed "source of income (including use of a Housing Choice Voucher)" among its protected classes, and since January 1, 2023 the Illinois Human Rights Act says the same statewide: refusing a real estate transaction because of source of income is a civil rights violation, with "source of income" defined as "the lawful manner by which an individual supports himself or herself and his or her dependents." This page lays out both lanes, the one-year IDHR clock, the owner-occupied exemptions that DO exist in the state act — and the advertising rule that binds even exempt owners.

What this page is: the law on refusing housing vouchers and other assistance in Skokie — who is covered, the real exemptions, the filing deadlines, and what the refused subsidy is worth — each rule linked to its official source. It is not legal advice — when it matters, read the linked source or use the free legal help on our tenant rights page.

Since January 1, 2023: 'source of income' is written into the Illinois Human Rights Act

775 ILCS 5/3-102 makes it a civil rights violation for an owner or broker, "because of unlawful discrimination, familial status, immigration status, source of income, or an arrest record," to "refuse to engage in a real estate transaction" or to "alter the terms, conditions or privileges" of one (verbatim, read today; the source-of-income prong was added by P.A. 102-896, effective January 1, 2023). The definition in §1-103(O-5) is deliberately broad: "'Source of income' means the lawful manner by which an individual supports himself or herself and his or her dependents." A Housing Choice Voucher is a lawful manner of support — and so are SSI and SSDI, child support, and veterans' benefits, which puts "employment income only" screens in the statute's crosshairs too. Source: 775 ILCS 5/3-102 (official text) · 775 ILCS 5/1-103 definitions (official text)

Cook County banned it earlier — Skokie renters are covered twice

Before the state acted, suburban Cook County already protected voucher holders: the county's Human Rights Ordinance lists "source of income (including use of a Housing Choice Voucher)" among its protected classes — the parenthetical is the county's own wording, quoted from the Commission on Human Rights today. Skokie sits squarely in that jurisdiction: the same county whose RTLO governs Skokie leases, and whose housing authority, HACC, administers Skokie's vouchers. A "no Section 8" policy here answers to the county Commission and to the state — the tenant chooses the forum, and the county lane existed for the years the state one didn't. Source: Cook County Commission on Human Rights

The clock: one year with IDHR — and no federal fallback

The Human Rights Act's housing article gives the deadline verbatim: "Within one year after the date that a civil rights violation allegedly has been committed or terminated, a charge in writing under oath or affirmation may be filed with the Department" (775 ILCS 5/7B-102, read today) — the Department being the Illinois Department of Human Rights. Worth knowing what the federal lane won't do: the federal Fair Housing Act's protected classes do not include source of income, so "refusing vouchers is legal under federal law" is true and irrelevant — the protection a Skokie renter enforces is Illinois and Cook County law. Source: 775 ILCS 5/7B-102 (official text) · IDHR — filing a charge

The exemptions that DO exist — and the one thing even an exempt owner can't publish

Honesty about the state act's edges: 775 ILCS 5/3-106 exempts "rental of a housing accommodation in a building which contains housing accommodations for not more than 4 families living independently of each other, if the owner resides in one of the housing accommodations" (§3-106(B)), and rental of rooms in an owner-occupied private home (§3-106(C)). But each of those exemptions carries the same rider, verbatim: "This exemption does not apply to paragraph (F) of Section 3-102" — the Publication of Intent prong. Even an owner-occupant of a two-flat who may lawfully choose among applicants cannot print, post, or publish "any notice, statement, advertisement or sign ... that indicates any preference, limitation, or discrimination." A "no Section 8" line in the listing is a violation no matter who owns the building — and the county ordinance's scope is its own, so an owner counting on a state exemption should check with the Commission before assuming it travels. Source: 775 ILCS 5/3-106 (official text) · 775 ILCS 5/3-102 (official text)

Screening is fair-housing territory here too: the Just Housing Amendment

Cook County's Just Housing Amendment to the same Human Rights Ordinance regulates criminal-history screening countywide — "criminal history" sits in the county's protected-class list alongside source of income, and the county publishes its own landlord guidance on the required individualized assessment. For a voucher household the practical point: in Cook County tenant screening, not just tenant selection, is fair-housing regulated — a landlord who waves a voucher application into a screening designed to fail it has not left the ordinance behind. Source: Cook County — Just Housing Amendment · Cook County Commission on Human Rights

What "no Section 8" turns away: the voucher-backed rent, in dollars

A voucher is not charity to the landlord — it is program-backed gross rent, sized by HUD's FY2026 fair market rents, published per ZIP here because Chicago-Joliet-Naperville is a Small Area FMR metro. A 2-bedroom voucher tenancy here is built on $1,800–1,950 a month of gross rent — up to $23,400 across a 12-month lease, a large share of it paid directly by the housing authority, month after month. That is the check a "no programs" policy refuses.

Honest caveat: FMRs are gross-rent standards (rent plus utilities), not payment promises — the local housing authority sets the actual payment standard from them, and the tenant pays an income-based share. Skokie's current all-size market average is $2,250/month as of June 2026 (methodology). Full figures and how to apply: the Section 8 & fair market rent page.

What a landlord can still do — and what wins cases

The law forbids the reason, not the tenancy decision itself: a landlord may still screen every applicant on genuinely voucher-neutral criteria — references, rental history — applied the same way to everyone. What it cannot survive is the reason being the program. Documentation decides these cases: save the listing, screenshot the "no Section 8" text or ad before it is edited, keep every message, and note dates and names — the pattern of a unit that was "just rented" for you and re-listed the next day is evidence.

If the voucher fight is part of a bigger one

Voucher discrimination rarely travels alone: the wider protections — retaliation, habitability, the discrimination complaint lanes — are on the tenant rights page; the voucher amounts, income limits, and how to apply are on the Section 8 & fair market rent page; if the underlying problem is this month's rent, the rental assistance page has the local programs; a non-renewal that lands right after a discrimination complaint belongs on the eviction page's map of what a landlord must actually prove; and each ZIP's current average (60076, 60077) says what the market around the fight looks like.