The corporate authorities of each municipality have the power to establish and operate a homestead program designed to rehabilitate or construct dwellings in presently blighted areas.
     “Homestead program” as used in this Section means a program of conveyances of unoccupied dwellings and vacant land, for nominal or no consideration, to heads of households 18 years of age or older who agree:
     (a) to rehabilitate or construct qualifying dwellings on such property;
     (b) to commence rehabilitation or construction within 60 days of conveyance;
     (c) to occupy such property as a principal resident for not less than 3 years, complying with applicable health and safety standards;
     (d) to permit reasonable periodic inspection by the municipality to determine compliance with the conditions of conveyance; and
     (e) to surrender and quit claim such property to the municipality, in a condition at least equivalent to that when first conveyed, upon determination of noncompliance.
     The corporate authorities shall have all powers necessary for the development and implementation of a homestead program, including but not limited to, the power to designate a homestead area, to enter into agreements with the federal government to receive repossessed homes, to establish guidelines for determining qualified recipients, to dispose of property by lottery or conveyance for nominal or no consideration, and to appoint a Homestead Board or designate a not-for-profit corporation as its agent to administer the program and establish standards of rehabilitation and construction.

     The corporate authorities of any municipality may enact ordinances prescribing fair housing practices, defining unfair housing practices, establishing Fair Housing or Human Relations Commissions and standards for the operation of such Commissions in the administering and enforcement of such ordinances, prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, creed, ancestry, national origin, or physical or mental disability in the listing, sale, assignment, exchange, transfer, lease, rental or financing of real property for the purpose of the residential occupancy thereof, and prescribing penalties for violations of such ordinances.
     Such ordinances may provide for closed meetings of the Commissions or other administrative agencies responsible for administering and enforcing such ordinances for the purpose of conciliating complaints of discrimination and such meetings shall not be subject to the provisions of “An Act in relation to meetings”, approved July 11, 1957, as amended. No final action for the imposition or recommendation of a penalty by such Commissions or agencies shall be taken, except at a meeting open to the public.
     To secure and guarantee the rights established by Sections 17, 18 and 19 of Article I of the Illinois Constitution, it is declared that any ordinance or standard enacted under the authority of this Section or under general home rule power and any standard, rule or regulation of such a Commission which prohibits, restricts, narrows or limits the housing choice of any person is unenforceable and void. Nothing in this amendatory Act of 1981 prohibits such a commission or a unit of local government from making special outreach efforts to inform members of minority groups of housing opportunities available in areas of majority white concentration and make similar efforts to inform the majority white population of available housing opportunities located in areas of minority concentration.
     This amendatory Act of 1981 applies to municipalities which are home rule units. Pursuant to Article VII, Section 6, paragraph (i) of the Illinois Constitution, this amendatory Act of 1981 is a limit on the power of municipalities that are home rule units.