Rock Island Today

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has extended the prohibition of eviction amid the COVID-19 pandemic through June 1 as the state reported an increase of confirmed cases and hospitalizations.

State officials will disburse an additional Covid-19 rental assistance payment, funded through a $500 million federal grant. Much of the payments will be distributed to landlords who have suffered from past-due rent, though it is also projected to cover an average of 15 months of rental assistance, covering up to $25,000.  

"I don't want to be insensitive, but I feel if employers who are offering employment reported those that will not come back, people would go back to work and have money to pay their rent," Rep. Tony McCombie said in an April 8 Facebook post. "This has really put a burden on property owners. I feel another real estate crash coming." 

Pritzker first established the ban shortly after the pandemic was declared in March 2020, during which he also issued stay-at-home restrictions across the state. Grants worth up to $5,000 were provided to Illinois residents who needed rental and mortgage assistance. The state’s $300 million housing assistance programs were the largest of its kind in the country.

He then changed the guidelines of the assistance to apply only to those who earn less than $99,000 a year, or $198,000 for joint couples to match federal regulations. The federal ban will now be effective until June 30, as per an executive order signed by President Joe Biden. His latest order stands against evictions, even during a legal process, with the exception of circumstances during which the tenant “poses a direct threat to the health and safety of other tenants or an immediate and severe risk to property.”

Chicago officials will soon launch an additional round of rent assistance payments funded by the state’s $80 million December package. AN estimated 21,000 households in the Chicago area are at risk of eviction, according to a  Committee for Better Housing and the Center for Urban Research & Learning research report at Loyola University. Individuals struggling to submit their rent payments are encouraged to submit an assistance request forum online.