The Housing Rights Initiative (HRI) is taking aim at 165 real estate agents, brokerage firms and landlords in its latest series of lawsuits filed in Chicago. The group claims that this is the largest housing discrimination case in Illinois history.

The lawsuits, filed on Monday, are the result of an undercover investigation conducted by HRI. In total, the housing watchdog group filed 176 complaints against 165 defendants with the Illinois Department of Human Rights. Defendants in the suit include major brokerage companies such as Coldwell Banker, Christie’s International Real Estate, Keller Williams and Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Chicago.

The suit alleges that real estate professionals discriminated against low-income families who were looking to use Housing Choice Vouchers. This violates Illinois House Bill 2775, which makes it illegal for landlords, brokers and agents to discriminate against housing applicants who seek to use vouchers to pay their rent. 

According to HRI’s announcement, the organization trained and deployed a group of undercover investigators over the past year who posed as prospective tenants looking to use Section 8 vouchers. HRI said that these investigators contacted “hundreds of brokers and landlords by text message to determine whether they were complying with the Illinois Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination against voucher holders.”

HRI found that voucher holders were explicitly discriminated against roughly 36% of the time.

In text message transcripts included in the announcement, brokers at Coldwell Banker Realty and Baird & Warner Realty explicitly told the undercover agents that landlords of various properties were not considering vouchers.

“Discrimination against voucher holders is not just a violation of the law — it’s a barrier that keeps families in Illinois from accessing stable and affordable housing,” Joshua Murillo, HRI’s deputy executive director, said in a statement. “HRI’s investigation and this filing are critical steps toward holding landlords and brokers accountable and ensuring that everyone, regardless of how they pay their rent, has a fair chance at finding a home.”

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices said the company has yet to be able to review the complaint, but that it is committed to upholding the “Fair Housing Act and all applicable housing protections and regulations.”

“We provide comprehensive training and education to ensure compliance and to support the housing needs of all individuals in the communities we serve,” the spokesperson wrote.

The other brokerage defendants contacted by HousingWire did not return a request for comment.

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