State of Illinois
92nd General Assembly
Legislation

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92_SB2039

 
                                               LRB9215929DJgc

 1        AN ACT in relation to housing.

 2        Be  it  enacted  by  the People of the State of Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section 1. Short title. This Act  may  be  cited  as  the
 5    Rental Housing Support Program Act.

 6        Section  5. Legislative findings and purpose. The General
 7    Assembly finds that  in  many  parts  of  this  State,  large
 8    numbers  of  citizens  are faced with the inability to secure
 9    affordable rental housing. Due to either  insufficient  wages
10    or  a  shortage  of affordable rental housing stock, or both,
11    many families have difficulty securing  decent  housing,  are
12    subjected  to  overcrowding, pay too large a portion of their
13    total monthly income for housing and consequently suffer  the
14    lack  of  other basic needs, live in substandard or unhealthy
15    housing,   or   experience   chronic   housing   instability.
16    Instability   and   inadequacy   in   housing   limits    the
17    employability  and  productivity  of many citizens, adversely
18    affects family health and stress levels,  impedes  children's
19    ability to learn, and produces corresponding drains on public
20    resources.  It  is  the purpose of this Act to create a State
21    program to  help  localities  address  the  need  for  decent
22    affordable rental housing.

23        Section 7. Definitions. In this Act:
24        "Authority"   means   the  Illinois  Housing  Development
25    Authority.
26        "Program" means the Rental Housing Support Program.

27        Section 10.  Creation  of  program.  The  Rental  Housing
28    Support  Program  is  created  within  the  Illinois  Housing
29    Development  Authority.  The  Authority  shall administer the
 
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 1    program.

 2        Section 15. Grants to local administering agencies.
 3        (a)  Under the program, the Authority shall  make  grants
 4    to  local  administering  agencies  to  provide  subsidies to
 5    landlords to enable the landlords to charge  rent  affordable
 6    for  low-income  tenants. Grants shall also include an amount
 7    for the operating expenses of local administering agencies.
 8        (b)  The Authority shall develop a  request-for-proposals
 9    process  for  soliciting  proposals  from local administering
10    agencies and for awarding grants.  The  request-for-proposals
11    process  and  the funded projects must be consistent with the
12    criteria set forth in Section 25 and with additional criteria
13    set forth by the Authority in rules implementing this Act.
14        (c)  Local   administering   agencies   may   be    local
15    governmental    bodies,   local   housing   authorities,   or
16    not-for-profit organizations. The Authority shall  set  forth
17    in  rules  the  financial and capacity requirements necessary
18    for an organization  to  qualify  as  a  local  administering
19    agency.

20        Section 20.  Grants to developers.
21        (a)  The  Authority  may  award  grants under the program
22    directly to developers of new affordable rental  housing  for
23    long-term  operating support to enable the rent on such units
24    to be affordable. Developers of such new housing shall  apply
25    directly  to  the  Authority for this type of grant under the
26    program.
27        (b)  The  Authority   shall   prescribe   by   rule   the
28    application requirements and the qualifications necessary for
29    a  developer  and  a development to qualify for a grant under
30    the program. In any event, however, to qualify for  a  grant,
31    the  development  must  satisfy  the  criteria  set  forth in
32    Section 25, unless waived by the Authority based  on  special
 
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 1    circumstances  and  in  furtherance  of  the  purpose  of the
 2    program to increase the supply of affordable rental housing.
 3        (c)  The Authority may not use more than 10% of its funds
 4    in any given year on grants under this Section.

 5        Section 25. Criteria for awarding grants.  The  Authority
 6    shall  adopt  rules  to govern the awarding of grants and the
 7    continuing eligibility for grants under Sections 15  and  20.
 8    Requests  for  proposals  under  Section 20 must specify that
 9    proposals must satisfy these rules. The  rules  must  contain
10    and  be  consistent  with,  but  need  not be limited to, the
11    following criteria:
12             (1)  Eligibility for tenancy in the units  supported
13        by grants must be limited to households with gross income
14        at  or below 30% of the area median income, determined by
15        the Authority using  statistical  data  it  deems  to  be
16        reliable  and  as  specific  as  possible for the area in
17        which the grant will be made. Fifty percent of the  units
18        that  are  supported  by  any grant must be set aside for
19        households whose income is at or below 15%  of  the  area
20        median  income,  provided  that localities and developers
21        may negotiate flexibility  in  this  set-aside  with  the
22        Authority  if they demonstrate that they have been unable
23        to locate sufficient tenants in this lower income  range.
24        Tenants  must have sufficient income to be able to afford
25        the tenant's share of the rent.
26             (2)  Local administering  authorities  must  include
27        2-bedroom,  3-bedroom,  and  4-bedroom  units among those
28        intended to be supported by grants under the program.  In
29        grants  under  Section  15,  the  precise number of these
30        units among all the units intended to be supported  by  a
31        grant  must  be based on need in the community for larger
32        units and other factors that the Authority  specifies  in
33        rules.  The  local  administering agency must specify the
 
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 1        basis for the numbers of these units  that  are  proposed
 2        for  support  under a grant. Local administering agencies
 3        must make  a  good  faith  effort  to  comply  with  this
 4        allocation of unit sizes. In grants awarded under Section
 5        20,  developers  and  the  Authority  shall negotiate the
 6        numbers and sizes of units to be built in a  project  and
 7        supported by the grant.
 8             (3)  Under  grants  awarded  under Section 15, local
 9        administering authorities must pay subsidies to landlords
10        on a quarterly basis and in advance of the  quarter  paid
11        for.
12             (4)  Local  administering  agencies  and  developers
13        must  specify how vacancies in units supported by a grant
14        must be advertised, and with respect to each vacancy they
15        must include provisions for outreach  to  local  homeless
16        shelters,   organizations  that  work  with  people  with
17        disabilities,  and  others   interested   in   affordable
18        housing.
19             (5)  The  local  administering  agency  or developer
20        must  establish  a  schedule  for  the  tenant's   rental
21        obligation  for  units supported by a grant. The tenant's
22        share of the rent must be a flat amount based on the size
23        of the unit  and  the  household's  income  category.  In
24        establishing   the   schedule  for  the  tenant's  rental
25        obligation, the local administering agency  or  developer
26        must  use 30% of gross income within an income range as a
27        guide, and it may charge an additional or  lesser  amount
28        depending on the size of the unit.
29             (6)  The  amount  of  the  subsidy  provided under a
30        grant for a unit  must  be  the  difference  between  the
31        amount of the tenant's obligation and the total amount of
32        rent  for the unit. The total amount of rent for the unit
33        must  be  negotiated  between  the  local   administering
34        authority  and  the landlord under Section 15, or between
 
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 1        the Authority and the developer under Section  20,  based
 2        on  the  operating  expenses  for the unit and using fair
 3        market rent as a guideline.
 4             (7)  Local administering authorities and developers,
 5        pursuant to criteria the  Authority  develops  in  rules,
 6        must  ensure  that  there  are  procedures  in  place  to
 7        maintain  the  safety and habitability of units supported
 8        under  grants  according  to   local   standards.   Local
 9        administering   agencies   must   inspect   units  before
10        supporting them under a grant awarded under Section 15.
11             (8)  Local administering agencies  must  provide  or
12        ensure  that tenants are provided with a "bill of rights"
13        with their lease setting forth local landlord-tenant laws
14        and procedures and  contact  information  for  the  local
15        administering  agency.  Local administering agencies must
16        also provide tenants with a list of agencies that provide
17        supportive services to low-income people on  a  range  of
18        issues.

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