Rent Relief, Part Three (and Counting)
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- Category: Latest News
If you missed the last window of rent relief last summer, or if you applied but did not get assistance, take heart: more is coming. In fact, some of it is already here.
Emily Bloom-Carlin, Program Officer for The Preservation Compact at Community Investment Corp., is as knowledgeable about current and planned rent relief programs as anyone around. Emily spent a little time with me, going over what is currently available and what is coming, and provided several useful links for those looking for more information.
As they have done twice before, IHDA and the City of Chicago will open a “round three” rent relief program that will have a strict application “window” of just a few weeks. Since this will be the largest source of additional rent relief funds, it is important to know what these application dates are and get your applications in before they close.
Emily sent information on three basic sources of current and prospective rent relief:
- Available Now
- Coming Soon
- Eviction Court Assistance
Here is a brief summary of each, with useful links to help you on your way:
Available Now
You may or may not be aware that the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) is currently offering rent relief. This was news to me.
As they have done twice before, IHDA and the City of Chicago will open a “round three” rent relief program
IDHS is making available up to 12-months of rental arrearages plus an additional three months, paid directly to housing providers. The program allows for future rent assistance in three-month increments and allows households to re-apply at the end of each three-month period. In order to get DHS assistance, applicants are required to go through “delegate organizations.” DHS is not set up to process and approve this assistance directly.
If you are operating in Chicago and want to access this IDHS relief, Emily recommends looking on the All Chicago portal. You can apply directly through the portal or reach out to one of the delegate organizations on the IDHS list that can provide hands-on assistance to housing providers and tenants. The website lists six agencies, including phone numbers and addresses.
If your tenants are not English-proficient, IHDS maintains a website that provides a list of agencies that can help process applications for non-native speakers. That same IHDS website provides the names of delegate organizations for locations both in Chicago and elsewhere in the state.
Coming Soon
The third round of federally funded rent relief was recently announced by both IHDA and the City of Chicago. The latest round of relief will abide by many of the same rules and guidelines as the previous round. That is to say, no rent relief will be available for tenants who are no longer in residency, and tenants must cooperate in the application process in order for housing providers to be granted rent relief funding.
Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) is currently offering rent relief.
In this round, the City is prioritizing assistance for tenants who have not been assisted in previous rounds. However, anyone in the state who qualifies can apply for IHDA’s ILRPP 2 program, even if they were assisted in previous rounds. If you received assistance on behalf of a specific tenant from the City in previous rounds but now need additional assistance for that tenant, you should apply to IHDA’s program.
Emily recommends checking the IHDA ILRPP website or chicookilrenthelp.org frequently for updates.
Eviction Assistance through the Courts
The rent relief being offered through housing courts can be considered the assistance of last resort. To qualify for this assistance, you must have a tenant currently in the eviction process. Emily says that, in Chicago and elsewhere in Cook County, eviction courts have staff who are assigned to waiting rooms and who can work directly with tenants to start an application for emergency rent relief as an alternative to eviction.
Outside of Chicago and Cook County, Emily reports that the process works differently but with the same goal – to prevent tenants from being evicted from their apartments if rent relief can be procured.
Emily provides two websites for this Court-based assistance: in the city and county, refer to Cook County Legal Aid for Housing and Debt. In the rest of Illinois, refer to Eviction Help Illinois.
In Chicago and elsewhere in Cook County, eviction courts have staff who are assigned to waiting rooms and who can work directly with tenants to start an application for emergency rent relief.
Rent relief during the first year and a half of the pandemic has been a mixed bag at best, with cumbersome application procedures, slow delivery of funds (if those funds are delivered at all), and too many limitations on who qualifies and under what circumstances.
But, as the old adage goes, “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”
It may not be much, but it’s better than a hard “NO.”