APPLY NOW: $500 million in rental assistance now available

Dear Neighbor,

Starting today, the Illinois Housing Development Authority has opened applications for the Illinois Rental Payment Program (IRPP). It's offering $500 million in grants to landlords to cover their tenants' unpaid rent.

If you are a landlord who is owed rent due to COVID, click here to begin the application. If you are a tenant who owes rent due to COVID, contact your landlord immediately and encourage them to begin this process.

In order to be eligible, a tenant must be at or below 80% of area median income (meaning, you earn roughly $70,000 or less). Those at 50% or below AMI (roughly $45,000 or less), and those who have been unemployed for over 90 days, will receive priority consideration.

The grant will cover up to 12 months of back rent, as well as up to three future months of rental payments. The maximum grant amount is $25,000 per tenant.

If a landlord receives the grant, they must waive any late fees associated with the unpaid amount and may not file or proceed with any evictions pertaining to the period of unpaid rent.

Note that the landlord must initiate the application by June 6, 2021. The tenant must complete their portion by June 13. This is a very short window, so please begin the process (if you are owed rent) or encourage your landlord to do so (if you owe rent) ASAP.

You can find a number of tutorial videos on how to fill out the various stages of the form here.

You can also tune-in to our Facebook page tomorrow, Tuesday May 18, at 3:00pm for a live Q&A about the application. This presentation will be made available on our social media and our website. We will have a Spanish Q&A later this week.

If you have any questions about the application, please email my chief of staff, Emily Melbye, at emily@repguzzardi.com, or call our office at (773) 853-2570.

Take care,

-Will

Don't miss our Facebook Live event tomorrow at 3pm with more information about the ILRPP grant!