Renters Behind On Payments To Get Federal Assistance

By Cole Lauterbach, The Center Square:

Small property owners are hopeful their renters will come to the table and settle their debts with the help of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal assistance for Illinois residents.

Last month’s COVID-19 relief package contained $25 billion in rental assistance. Of that, an estimated $845 million is available to Illinoisans struggling to make payments, more than double what the state offered last summer. The aid is a sign of hope for the state’s property renters, many of whom have been hosting tenants rent-free since last spring.

“We don’t ask grocery stores to give away free food or pharmacies to give away free medication,” Neighborhood Building Owners Alliance President Michael Glasser said. “We cannot keep asking housing providers to give away free homes without destabilizing the neighborhood housing that so many people depend on. Those who can pay their rent should pay it to provide flexibility for those who truly cannot.”

Illinois’ eviction moratorium is set to expire Saturday but a similar federal measure is in effect until the end of January. Illinois extended the eviction moratorium through 2020, but added stipulations that renters who plan to skip out on payments must prove to the property owners they’re unable to pay. The rental assistance comes in tandem with stimulus payments and enhanced unemployment benefits.

Property owners who rent out units most-commonly have one or two, a common misconception from companies who own large complexes. Should one of the two renters stop paying, it represents a real threat to the property owner’s cash flow that could result in foreclosure. The NBOA estimates 70% of rental units in the Chicago area are provided by housing providers who manage fewer than 20 units.

The National Multifamily Housing Council, which tracks rent payments in more than 11 million properties found 93.6% of renters it tracked had paid rent in November of last year, a 1.6 percentage point difference from the same month in 2019.

Those seeking rental assistance can contact the Illinois Housing Development Authority.

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