SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - Homeowners can more easily remove racist language from property deeds in a state law that took effect at the start of 2022.
State Sen. Adriane Johnson (D-Buffalo Grove) sponsored the legislation (House Bill 58). It makes it easier, faster and more affordable for a person to remove such language that might exist in their property documentation.
WAND News extensively reported on this topic and similar issues in a 2021 I-TEAM report. WAND News reporter Doug Wolfe uncovered real estate deeds and other documents dating back to the 1930s and 1940s that discriminated against minorities while allowing whites to get bank loans for homes. County recorders helped Wolfe find restrictive racial covenants and racial restrictions in real estate records that still existed in 2021.
Johnson believes the new law will make life easier for those who want their property records updated.
“Although racial restrictive covenants are no longer enforceable, residents have been forced to jump through hoops to strike the harmful and antiquated provisions from their property records,” Johnson said. “By empowering homeowners to easily remove racist language from their property deeds, our state is taking steps to combat a painful relic of the historical harms done to our communities of color and to root out racism in all of our institutions.”
The full law can be viewed in a PDF document attached to this story.
