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The housing rental market has been shown over the years to have a lot of discriminatory practices in it, most often against minorities or people with lower incomes. However, another group that has been unfairly targeted more recently is veterans, and now Chicago is moving to do something about it.

The Chicago City Council's Committee on Human Relations recently signed off on a mayoral ordinance that protects current and former military servicemembers against discriminatory practices from both landlords and employers, according to a report from the Chicago Sun-Times. As such, they are now the 17th "protected" group under city law.

"Some veterans have been denied jobs by employers who are afraid that the applicant may have post-traumatic stress disorder and fear that they might react violently in the workplace," Mona Noriega, chairwoman and commissioner of Chicago's Commission on Human Relations, told the newspaper.

Veterans who have run into difficulty finding housing for these or other reasons might want to talk to local officials to determine whether these problems have come about fairly, and perhaps also seek the help of private nonprofit organizations. That kind of assistance may prove to be a boon to those who need reasonable housing options as soon as possible.