Illinois’ rental assistance programs will return in December.
The Illinois Housing Development Authority’s announced Saturday that it will reopen the Illinois Rental Payment Program on Monday, Dec. 6 instead of today, as originally planned. IDHA says while the date for the program reopening is now delayed, money from this round will still be distributed to approved renters and landlords before the end of the year as originally scheduled.
In the first round of assistance, IDHA reviewed more than 57,000 applications and paid out over a half million dollars n behalf of renters experiencing pandemic-related hardships. Since 2020, the state of Illinois has provided over $776 million in emergency rental assistance to help keep more than 103,100 Illinois residents in their homes.
The vendor handling the application portal is requiring additional testing before it can go online. Applications will now be accepted beginning Monday, Dec. 6 through 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Jan 9 at illinoishousinghelp.org. The next round of funding is expected to provide a quarter million dollars and assist an estimated 27,000 renters and landlords to prevent evictions.