102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
HB0648

 

Introduced 2/8/2021, by Rep. Denyse Stoneback

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
310 ILCS 105/25

    Amends the Rental Housing Support Program Act. In a provision requiring the Illinois Housing Development Authority to adopt rules concerning grants awarded to local administering agencies to fund rent subsidies for low-income families, provides that the rules must limit eligibility for tenancy in the subsidized rental units to households with gross income that is at or below 40% (rather than 30%) of the family median income for the area in which the grant will be made. In a provision concerning rules on grants awarded to entities for the development of affordable rental housing, provides that the rules must require 50% of the units that are supported by any grant to be set aside for households whose income is at or below 25% (rather than 15%) of the median family income for the area in which the grant will be made.


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A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning housing.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Rental Housing Support Program Act is
5amended by changing Section 25 as follows:
 
6    (310 ILCS 105/25)
7    Sec. 25. Criteria for awarding grants. The Authority
8shall adopt rules to govern the awarding of grants and the
9continuing eligibility for grants under Sections 15 and 20.
10Requests for proposals under Section 20 must specify that
11proposals must satisfy these rules. The rules must contain and
12be consistent with, but need not be limited to, the following
13criteria:
14        (1) Eligibility for tenancy in the units supported by
15    grants to local administering agencies must be limited to
16    households with gross income at or below 40% 30% of the
17    median family income for the area in which the grant will
18    be made. Fifty percent of the units that are supported by
19    any grant must be set aside for households whose income is
20    at or below 25% 15% of the area median family income for
21    the area in which the grant will be made, provided that
22    local administering agencies may negotiate flexibility in
23    this set-aside with the Authority if they demonstrate that

 

 

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1    they have been unable to locate sufficient tenants in this
2    lower income range. Income eligibility for units supported
3    by grants to local administering agencies must be verified
4    annually by landlords and submitted to local administering
5    agencies. Tenants must have sufficient income to be able
6    to afford the tenant's share of the rent. For grants
7    awarded under Section 20, eligibility for tenancy in units
8    supported by grants must be limited to households with a
9    gross income at or below 40% 30% of area median family
10    income for the area in which the grant will be made. Fifty
11    percent of the units that are supported by any grant must
12    be set aside for households whose income is at or below 25%
13    15% of the median family income for the area in which the
14    grant will be made, provided that developers may negotiate
15    flexibility in this set-aside with the Authority or
16    municipality as defined in subsection (b) of Section 10 if
17    it demonstrates that it has been unable to locate
18    sufficient tenants in this lower income range. The
19    Authority shall determine what sources qualify as a
20    tenant's income.
21        (2) Local administering agencies must include
22    2-bedroom, 3-bedroom, and 4-bedroom units among those
23    intended to be supported by grants under the Program. In
24    grants under Section 15, the precise number of these units
25    among all the units intended to be supported by a grant
26    must be based on need in the community for larger units and

 

 

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1    other factors that the Authority specifies in rules. The
2    local administering agency must specify the basis for the
3    numbers of these units that are proposed for support under
4    a grant. Local administering agencies must make a good
5    faith effort to comply with this allocation of unit sizes.
6    In grants awarded under Section 20, developers and the
7    Authority or municipality, as defined in subsection (b) of
8    Section 10, shall negotiate the numbers and sizes of units
9    to be built in a project and supported by the grant.
10        (3) Under grants awarded under Section 15, local
11    administering agencies must enter into a payment contract
12    with the landlord that defines the method of payment and
13    must pay subsidies to landlords on a quarterly basis and
14    in advance of the quarter paid for.
15        (4) Local administering agencies and developers must
16    specify how vacancies in units supported by a grant must
17    be advertised and they must include provisions for
18    outreach to local homeless shelters, organizations that
19    work with people with disabilities, and others interested
20    in affordable housing.
21        (5) The local administering agency or developer must
22    establish a schedule for the tenant's rental obligation
23    for units supported by a grant. The tenant's share of the
24    rent must be a flat amount, calculated annually, based on
25    the size of the unit and the household's income category.
26    In establishing the schedule for the tenant's rental

 

 

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1    obligation, the local administering agency or developer
2    must use 30% of gross income within an income range as a
3    guide, and it may charge an additional or lesser amount.
4        (6) The amount of the subsidy provided under a grant
5    for a unit must be the difference between the amount of the
6    tenant's obligation and the total amount of rent for the
7    unit. The total amount of rent for the unit must be
8    negotiated between the local administering authority and
9    the landlord under Section 15, or between the Authority or
10    municipality, as defined in subsection (b) of Section 10,
11    and the developer under Section 20, using comparable rents
12    for units of comparable size and condition in the
13    surrounding community as a guideline.
14        (7) Local administering agencies and developers,
15    pursuant to criteria the Authority develops in rules, must
16    ensure that there are procedures in place to maintain the
17    safety and habitability of units supported under grants.
18    Local administering agencies must inspect units before
19    supporting them under a grant awarded under Section 15.
20        (8) Local administering agencies must provide or
21    ensure that tenants are provided with a "bill of rights"
22    with their lease setting forth local landlord-tenant laws
23    and procedures and contact information for the local
24    administering agency.
25        (9) A local administering agency must create a plan
26    detailing a process for helping to provide information,

 

 

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1    when necessary, on how to access education, training, and
2    other supportive services to tenants living in units
3    supported under the grant. The plan must be submitted as a
4    part of the administering agency's proposal to the
5    Authority required under Section 15.
6        (10) Local administering agencies and developers may
7    not use funding under the grant to develop or support
8    housing that requires that a tenant has a particular
9    diagnosis or type of disability as a condition of
10    eligibility for occupancy unless the requirement is
11    mandated by another funding source for the housing. Local
12    administering agencies and developers may use grant
13    funding to develop integrated housing opportunities for
14    persons with disabilities, but not housing restricted to a
15    specific disability type.
16        (11) In order to plan for periodic fluctuations in
17    annual receipts on deposit appropriated to the Fund each
18    year, the Authority shall establish by rule a mechanism
19    for establishing a reserve fund and the level of funding
20    that shall be held in reserve either by the Authority or by
21    local administering agencies.
22        (12) The Authority shall perform annual
23    reconciliations of all distributions made in connection
24    with the Program and may offset future distributions to
25    balance geographic distribution requirements of this Act.
26(Source: P.A. 99-97, eff. 7-22-15.)