Illinois § 5-15

§ 5-15.

Federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program. (a) Any department or agency of the State eligible to receive a direct federal allocation and charged with disbursing allocated funds and administering the federal program shall do so in accordance with federal and State law. (b) Consistent with federal law, any State agency administering this program shall create a process to provide rental assistance directly to eligible renters and to obviate or minimize the necessity of lessor or utility provider participation in submitting the application when the lessor or utility provider: (i) refuses to accept a direct payment; or (ii) fails to cooperate with an application for assistance. The administering State agency shall make payments to a lessor or utility provider on behalf of an eligible household with a statement indicating which eligible household the payment is being made for, except that, if the lessor or utility provider does not agree to accept such a payment from the administering State agency after the administering State agency has made contact with the lessor or utility provider, then the administering State agency may make such payments directly to the eligible household for the purpose of the eligible household making payments to the lessor or utility provider. Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing in this Act shall be construed to require a lessor or utility provider to accept funds from the program, whether paid directly by the administering State agency or by the eligible household. (c) Consistent with federal law, any State agency administering this program shall provide rental assistance in an amount based on stated need rather than on a flat or fixed amount. An eligible household's stated need may include, but is not limited to, the amount of arrears owed to a lessor, utility provider, or both, or future rental payments based on monthly rent. (d) Consistent with federal law, nothing in this Act shall be construed as precluding any administering State agency from capping or setting a limit on the amount of emergency rental payments made on behalf of any single household. The administering State agency may adopt additional eligibility criteria, application procedures, and program rules necessary to administer the program in conformity with the priorities and public policies expressed within this Act and federal law, as it may be amended. (e) Consistent with federal law prohibiting duplicative payments from other federal programs, an administering State agency shall not disqualify an eligible household from the program based on previous application for or receipt of other similar federal assistance for periods that are different than that for which the program assistance is being provided under this Act. (f) Unless necessary to comply with applicable federal or State law, the administering State agency shall not, for purposes of determining program eligibility, require a fully executed written lease or any type of documentation relating to any household member's immigration status. The administering State agency may accept a demand for rent letter, ledger or statement containing the outstanding balance, termination notice, or other alternative form of documentation containing or showing the amount of rental or utility arrears owed. (Source: P.A. 102-5, eff. 5-17-21.)