IHDA launches Emergency Rental Assistance program
The Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) has developed the Emergency Rental Assistance program to support Illinois tenants who are unable to pay for rent due to a COVID-19-related loss of income. The program will provide Illinois renters a $5,000 grant that will be sent to their landlords.
The Emergency Rental Assistance program is expected to reach 30,000 renters that have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, and will run through December 2020 or until the available funds are exhausted, whichever comes first. Applications for this program will be accepted from August 10 to August 21. It is advisable to start the application once available on August 10 at 9:00 a.m. due to expected high demand. Only one application per household is allowed and an application is not a guarantee of assistance.
Eligibility requirements include:
• Income before March 1st must be less than 80% of area median income (AMI)
• Loss of income is related to Covid-19
• Tenant has unpaid rent after March 1st
• Tenant that has received previous Covid-19 rental help through another program or under Section 8 isn’t
eligible
You can learn more about the program and how to apply at https://era.ihda.org/. If you have any questions, please call 312-883-2270 or toll-free at 888-252-1119. For those who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech-impaired, please contact Navicore Solutions for free assistance at 877-274-4309 (TTY).