Renters Unable To Pay Rent Due to COVID-19 Pandemic Eligible for One-Time Grant Payments

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch is excited to share the Rental Payment Program, which helps ensure the state’s most vulnerable residents have a roof over their head, will provide one-time grants to assist renters who are unable to make their payments.

The 2021 Illinois Rental Payment Program (ILRPP) provides direct financial assistance to Illinois tenants who struggle or are unable to pay their rent due to COVID-19-related economic hardship. This year, approved applicants will receive one-time grants of up to $25,000, paid directly to their housing provider or landlord to cover missed rent payments covering up to 12 months of back due rent and up to three months of future rent.

To date, the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) has received nearly 97,300 completed ILRPP applications from renters and landlords in 100 of Illinois’ 102 counties requesting over $940 million in rental assistance. To date, IHDA has already approved 26,323 applications and paid out more than $209 million to 24,174 households affected by the pandemic. 

Approximately 58% of the approved applications, to date, have assisted households who have been unemployed for more than 90 days, and 61% of approvals have assisted extremely-low-income households to keep vulnerable tenants in their homes while they regain financial solvency. The program has provided an average of $8,676 per household, covering multiple months of back and future rent. IHDA is continuing to review applications as quickly as possible and is prioritizing requests from tenants who are unemployed and those with very-low household incomes.

The Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) has awarded over $187 million in assistance to Illinois residents in eviction, utility and other relief including direct aid for immigrant communities. While the tenant-led application period through IHDA is closed for new applications, rental assistance is still available through IDHS’ Provider Network until that funding is exhausted. 

IHDA will launch the next round of rental assistance - and the new mortgage assistance program - later this fall.