Criminal Checks in Chicago for tenant screening is now illegal??!

[Ibn Abney]

Cook County makes it illegal to refuse to show or rent property to people with certain criminal records.

Looking for thoughts and advice from more seasoned landlords/ property management firms. Especially in urban markets.

Ever been faced with this issue? How do you screen without checking criminal history? even credit sites search criminal records as part of the credit search process. Ex. Transunion Smartmove

Now what?

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-met-housing-ordinance-arrest-record-20190425-story.html

[John Warren]

@Ibn Abney if you read the article carefully, you will notice that there are going to be nuances to this law. It does not say that you can't deny someone for certain types of criminal history. This is actually common sense. Would you rent to someone who drove with a suspended license one time? What about someone who had a misdemeanor 25 years ago? What about someone with a felony from 50 years ago? The answer is almost always... it depends. You need to look at the full picture anyways to see if someone could be a potentially solid tenant.