Rental Assistance Available to Will County Residents beginning May 17th

JOLIET – Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant announced today that online applications for the Illinois Rental Payment Program (ILRPP) which will provide $20 million in relief to Will County landlords and tenants will be available May 17^th at www.willcountyillinois.org.

“Will County landlords and renters who have experienced hardships due to COVID-19 will now have access to much needed relief,” said Bertino-Tarrant. “It will enable thousands of renters to keep the keys to their homes and provide landlords relief from past due rent.”

The ILRPP is being administered by the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) on behalf of Will County.  Applicants are eligible for up to 15 months of assistance. The grant can cover the past due rent from the previous 12 months and future rental assistance for the next three months, if deemed necessary. The maximum grant amount is $25,000.

The emergency rental assistance is provided by the Federal government and is free to tenant and housing provider. If approved, the grant will be paid to the housing provider in the form of a check.

“The application is a joint application from the landlord and the tenant,” said Bertino-Tarrant. “We strongly encourage landlords and tenants to communicate with each other and begin preparing their materials.”  The eviction moratorium has helped keep families housed during the pandemic but nothing in the moratorium relieves renters of their obligations to make rent payments or otherwise comply with their leases. Nothing in the moratorium forgives a tenant’s obligation to pay the rent.  All of the back rent owed will be due unless tenants work with their landlords to apply for assistance and funds are limited.

All eligibility and documentation requirements can be accessed at www.willcountyillinois.org.

The application link will go live at www.willcountyillinois.org and https://ilrpp.ihda.org. Landlords and tenants can visit these sites to learn more and register for notifications.

Eligibility Requirements

In order to receive financial assistance through ILRPP, tenants must meet all of the following:

• Household is behind on their rent for at least 30 days
• Household lives in Illinois and rents their home as their primary residence
• Household’s total gross income cannot exceed 80% Area Median Income for location
• Household must have experienced a financial hardship directly — or indirectly — due to the pandemic, for example:
  • Being laid off
  • Place of employment has closed
  • Reduction in hours of work
  • Loss of spousal/child support
  • Inability to find work due to COVID-19
  • Having to stay home with children due to closure of day care/school
  • Unable to participate in previous employment due to the workplace’s high risk of severe illness from COVID-19
• At risk of homelessness or housing instability