Public Act 097-0892
 
HB5450 EnrolledLRB097 16987 KTG 62178 b

    AN ACT concerning housing.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Rental Housing Support Program Act is
amended by changing Sections 5 and 25 and by adding Section 95
as follows:
 
    (310 ILCS 105/5)
    Sec. 5. Legislative findings and purpose. The General
Assembly finds that in many parts of this State, large numbers
of citizens are faced with the inability to secure affordable
rental housing. Due to either insufficient wages or a shortage
of affordable rental housing stock, or both, many families have
difficulty securing decent housing, are subjected to
overcrowding, pay too large a portion of their total monthly
income for housing and consequently suffer the lack of other
basic needs, live in substandard or unhealthy housing, or
experience chronic housing instability. Instability and
inadequacy in housing limits the employability and
productivity of many citizens, adversely affects family health
and stress levels, and impedes children's ability to learn;
such instability , and produces corresponding drains on public
resources and contributes to an overall decline in real estate
values. It is the purpose of this Act to create a State program
to help localities address the need for decent, affordable,
permanent rental housing.
(Source: P.A. 94-118, eff. 7-5-05.)
 
    (310 ILCS 105/25)
    Sec. 25. Criteria for awarding grants. The Authority shall
adopt rules to govern the awarding of grants and the continuing
eligibility for grants under Sections 15 and 20. Requests for
proposals under Section 20 must specify that proposals must
satisfy these rules. The rules must contain and be consistent
with, but need not be limited to, the following criteria:
        (1) Eligibility for tenancy in the units supported by
    grants to local administering agencies must be limited to
    households with gross income at or below 30% of the median
    family income for the area in which the grant will be made.
    Fifty percent of the units that are supported by any grant
    must be set aside for households whose income is at or
    below 15% of the area median family income for the area in
    which the grant will be made, provided that local
    administering agencies may negotiate flexibility in this
    set-aside with the Authority if they demonstrate that they
    have been unable to locate sufficient tenants in this lower
    income range. Income eligibility for units supported by
    grants to local administering agencies must be verified
    annually by landlords and submitted to local administering
    agencies. Tenants must have sufficient income to be able to
    afford the tenant's share of the rent. For grants awarded
    under Section 20, eligibility for tenancy in units
    supported by grants must be limited to households with a
    gross income at or below 30% of area median family income
    for the area in which the grant will be made. Fifty percent
    of the units that are supported by any grant must be set
    aside for households whose income is at or below 15% of the
    median family income for the area in which the grant will
    be made, provided that developers may negotiate
    flexibility in this set-aside with the Authority or
    municipality as defined in subsection (b) of Section 10 if
    it demonstrates that it has been unable to locate
    sufficient tenants in this lower income range. The
    Authority shall determine what sources qualify as a
    tenant's income.
        (2) Local administering agencies must include
    2-bedroom, 3-bedroom, and 4-bedroom units among those
    intended to be supported by grants under the program. In
    grants under Section 15, the precise number of these units
    among all the units intended to be supported by a grant
    must be based on need in the community for larger units and
    other factors that the Authority specifies in rules. The
    local administering agency must specify the basis for the
    numbers of these units that are proposed for support under
    a grant. Local administering agencies must make a good
    faith effort to comply with this allocation of unit sizes.
    In grants awarded under Section 20, developers and the
    Authority or municipality, as defined in subsection (b) of
    Section 10, shall negotiate the numbers and sizes of units
    to be built in a project and supported by the grant.
        (3) Under grants awarded under Section 15, local
    administering agencies must enter into a payment contract
    with the landlord that defines the method of payment and
    must pay subsidies to landlords on a quarterly basis and in
    advance of the quarter paid for.
        (4) Local administering agencies and developers must
    specify how vacancies in units supported by a grant must be
    advertised and they must include provisions for outreach to
    local homeless shelters, organizations that work with
    people with disabilities, and others interested in
    affordable housing.
        (5) The local administering agency or developer must
    establish a schedule for the tenant's rental obligation for
    units supported by a grant. The tenant's share of the rent
    must be a flat amount, calculated annually, based on the
    size of the unit and the household's income category. In
    establishing the schedule for the tenant's rental
    obligation, the local administering agency or developer
    must use 30% of gross income within an income range as a
    guide, and it may charge an additional or lesser amount.
        (6) The amount of the subsidy provided under a grant
    for a unit must be the difference between the amount of the
    tenant's obligation and the total amount of rent for the
    unit. The total amount of rent for the unit must be
    negotiated between the local administering authority and
    the landlord under Section 15, or between the Authority or
    municipality, as defined in subsection (b) of Section 10,
    and the developer under Section 20, using comparable rents
    for units of comparable size and condition in the
    surrounding community as a guideline.
        (7) Local administering agencies and developers,
    pursuant to criteria the Authority develops in rules, must
    ensure that there are procedures in place to maintain the
    safety and habitability of units supported under grants.
    Local administering agencies must inspect units before
    supporting them under a grant awarded under Section 15.
        (8) Local administering agencies must provide or
    ensure that tenants are provided with a "bill of rights"
    with their lease setting forth local landlord-tenant laws
    and procedures and contact information for the local
    administering agency.
        (9) A local administering agency must create a plan
    detailing a process for helping to provide information,
    when necessary, on how to access education, training, and
    other supportive services to tenants living in units
    supported under the grant. The plan must be submitted as a
    part of the administering agency's proposal to the
    Authority required under Section 15.
        (10) Local administering agencies and developers may
    not use funding under the grant to develop or support
    housing that requires that a tenant has a particular
    diagnosis or type or presence of disability as a condition
    of eligibility for occupancy unless the requirement is
    mandated by another funding source for the housing. Local
    administering agencies and developers may use grant
    funding to develop integrated housing opportunities for
    persons with disabilities, but not housing restricted to a
    specific disability type.
        (11) In order to plan for periodic fluctuations in
    program revenue, the Authority shall establish by rule a
    mechanism for establishing a reserve fund and the level of
    funding that shall be held in reserve either by the
    Authority or by local administering agencies.
(Source: P.A. 94-118, eff. 7-5-05.)
 
    (310 ILCS 105/95 new)
    Sec. 95. Severability. If any provision of this Act or its
application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the
invalidity of that provision or application does not affect
other provisions or applications of this Act that can be given
effect without the invalid provision or application.
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.