Illinois Compiled Statutes
Chapter 310 - HOUSING
310 ILCS 105/ - Rental Housing Support Program Act.

(310 ILCS 105/1)
Sec. 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Rental Housing Support
Program Act.

(Source: P.A. 94-118, eff. 7-5-05.)

(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 produces
corresponding drains on public resources and contributes to an overall decline in real estate values. Unaffordable rental
rates lead to frequent tenant turnover and difficulty filling vacancies, resulting in unstable
income streams for rental property owners, the limited ability of owners to properly maintain
their properties, substandard rental housing, and greater rates of foreclosure. High tenant
turnover, poorly maintained properties, vacant and abandoned properties, and overcrowded
housing negatively impact the safety and health of communities and the real estate values within
such communities. Among others, the program created by this Act benefits (i) all individuals
who record real estate related documents by helping to stabilize real estate values in the State,
(ii) rental property owners by subsidizing the portion of rent that many of their tenants are unable to pay, (iii) those individuals who own real estate in the State by providing an option for
affordable rental housing should they one day face foreclosure, and (iv) tenants who participate
in the program by providing them with rental assistance and the ability to achieve financial
stability so that they are able to become property owners themselves. 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. 97-892, eff. 8-3-12; 98-5, eff. 3-22-13.)

(310 ILCS 105/7)
Sec. 7. Definitions. In this Act:
"Annual receipts" means revenue derived from the Rental
Housing Support Program State surcharge from July 1 to June
30.
"Authority" means the Illinois Housing Development Authority.
"Developer" means any entity that receives a grant under Section 20.
"Program" means the Rental Housing Support Program.
"Real estate-related document" means any recorded document that affects an
interest in real property excluding documents which solely affect or relate to an easement for water, sewer, electricity, gas, telephone or other public service.
"Unit" means a rental apartment unit receiving a subsidy by means of a grant
under this Act. "Unit" does not include housing units intended as transitional
or
temporary housing.

(Source: P.A. 99-97, eff. 7-22-15.)

(310 ILCS 105/10)
Sec. 10. Creation of Program and distribution of funds.
(a) The Rental Housing Support Program is created within the Illinois Housing Development Authority. The Authority shall administer the Program and adopt rules for its implementation.
(b) The Authority shall distribute amounts for the Program solely from annual receipts on deposit in the Rental Housing Support Program Fund that are appropriated in each year for distribution by the Authority for the Program, and not from any other source of funds for the Authority, as follows:
(Source: P.A. 99-97, eff. 7-22-15.)

(310 ILCS 105/15)
Sec. 15. Grants to local administering agencies.
(a) Under the program, the Authority shall make grants to local
administering agencies to provide subsidies to landlords to enable the
landlords to charge rent affordable for low-income tenants. Grants shall also
include an amount for the operating expenses of local administering agencies.
On an annual basis, operating expenses for local administering agencies shall not exceed 10% for grants under $500,000 and shall not exceed 7% for grants over $500,000. If a grant to a local administering agency covers more than one year, the Authority shall calculate operating expenses on an annual pro rata share of the grant. If the annual pro rata share is $500,000 or less, then the fee shall be 10%; if the annual pro rata share is greater than $500,000, then the fee shall be 7%.
(b) The Authority shall develop a request-for-proposals process for
soliciting proposals from local administering agencies and for
awarding grants. The request-for-proposals process and the funded projects must
be consistent with the criteria set forth in Section 25 and with
additional criteria set forth by the Authority in rules implementing this Act.
(c) Local administering agencies may be local governmental bodies, local
housing authorities, or not-for-profit organizations. The Authority shall
set forth in rules the financial and capacity requirements necessary for an
organization to qualify as a local administering agency and the parameters for administration of the grants by local administering agencies.
(d) The Authority shall distribute grants to local administering agencies
according to a formula based on U.S. Census data. The formula shall determine
percentages of the funds to be distributed to the following geographic areas:
(i)
Chicago; (ii) suburban areas: Cook County (excluding Chicago), DuPage County,
Lake County, Kane County, Will County, and McHenry County; (iii) small
metropolitan areas: Springfield, Rockford, Peoria, Decatur, Champaign-Urbana,
Bloomington-Normal, Rock Island, DeKalb, Madison County, Moline, Pekin,
Rantoul, and St. Clair County; and (iv) rural areas, defined as all areas of the State not specifically named in items (i), (ii), and (iii) of this subsection. A geographic area's
percentage share shall be determined by the total number of households that
have an annual income of less than 50% of State median income for a household
of 4, as determined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and that are paying more than 30% of their income for rent. The geographic distribution shall be re-determined
by the Authority each time new U.S. Census data becomes available. The
Authority shall phase in any changes to the geographic formula to prevent a
large
withdrawal of resources from one area that could negatively impact households
receiving rental housing support.
Up to 20% of the funds allocated for rural areas, as defined in this subsection, may be set aside and awarded to one administering agency to be distributed throughout the rural areas in the State to localities that desire a number of subsidized units of housing that is too small to justify the establishment of a full local program. In those localities, the administering agency may contract with local agencies to share the administrative tasks of the program, such as inspections of units.
(e) In order to ensure applications from all geographic areas of the
State, the
Authority shall create a plan to ensure that potential local
administering agencies have
ample time and support to consider making an application and to prepare an
application.
Such a plan must include, but is not limited to: an outreach and education plan
regarding
the program and the requirements for a local administering agency; ample time
between the
initial
notice of funding ability and the deadline to submit an application, which
shall not be less than 9
months;
and access to assistance from the Authority or another agency in considering
and preparing the application.
(f) In order to maintain consistency for households receiving rental housing
support, the Authority shall, to the extent possible given funding resources available in the Rental Housing Support Program,
continue to fund local administering agencies at the same level on an annual
basis, unless the Authority determines that a local administering agency is not
meeting the criteria set forth in Section 25 or is not adhering to other standards set forth by rule by the Authority.

(Source: P.A. 97-952, eff. 1-1-13.)

(310 ILCS 105/20)
Sec. 20. Grants for affordable housing developments.
(a) The Authority may award grants under the program directly for
the development of affordable rental housing for long-term
operating support to enable the rent on such units to be affordable.
Developers of such new housing shall apply directly to the
Authority for this type of grant under the program.
(b) The Authority shall prescribe by rule the application requirements
and the qualifications necessary for a developer and a development
to qualify for a grant under the program. In any event, however, to
qualify for a grant, the development must satisfy the criteria set
forth in Section 25, unless waived by the Authority
based on special circumstances and in furtherance of the purpose
of the program to increase the supply of affordable rental housing.
In awarding grants under this Section and in addition to any other requirements and qualifications specified in this Act and by rule, the Authority shall also consider the improvement of the geographic diversity of the developments under this Section among the decision criteria.
(c) The Authority must use at least 10% of the funds generated for the
Program in any
given year for grants under this Section.
In any given year, the Authority is not required to spend the 10% of its
funds that accrues
in that year but may add all or part of that 10% to the 10% allocation for
subsequent years
for the purpose of funding grants under this Section.

(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:

(310 ILCS 105/85)
Sec. 85.
(Amendatory provisions; text omitted).

(Source: P.A. 94-118, eff. 7-5-05; text omitted.)

(310 ILCS 105/90)
Sec. 90.
(Amendatory provisions; text omitted).

(Source: P.A. 94-118, eff. 7-5-05; text omitted.)

(310 ILCS 105/95)
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.

(Source: P.A. 97-892, eff. 8-3-12.)

(310 ILCS 105/99)
(This Act was approved by the Governor on July 5, 2005, so the actual effective date of this Act is July 5, 2005)
Sec. 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, 2005.

(Source: P.A. 94-118, eff. 7-5-05.)