Illinois Housing Development Authority Rental Housing Support Program

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Illinois Housing Development AuthorityRental
HousingSupport Program

• National Alliance to End Homelessness Conference
• July 10, 2007
• Thank you for attending!

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Rental Housing Support Program - IL

• Contact Information for the program
• Manager April Lasker
• 401 N Michigan Ave, Suite 700
• Chicago, IL 60611
• (312) 836- 5357
• alasker_at_ihda.org

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Rental Housing Support Program - IL

• The Rental Housing Support Program was created in
  July 2005 to provide rental assistance to
  Illinois households by subsidizing rental housing
  units.
• It is a Unit-Based program targeting households
  who are at or below 30 of the Area Median Income
  in their areas.
• Half of the resources will be available for
  severely low-income households who are at or
  below 15 of their Area Median Income.

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Rental Housing Support Program - IL

• After being signed into legislation in July 2005
  there were a series of community meetings to have
  input into the rules of the program.
• Many advocates and agencies gave verbal and
  written comments about the program rules.
• IHDA responded to the comments and adjusted the
  rules of the program in many cases.

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Rental Housing Support Program - IL

• Following the rule setting, IHDA staff created
  the Program Guide and finalized many of the
  programs documents and policies.
• We are now in a 9 month RFP process that requires
  training sessions around the state to discuss and
  educate groups about the program.

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Rental Housing Support Program - IL

• Funding comes from 10 real estate document
  recording fees collected at the county level, 1
  of which stays with the county.
• Projected funding for the program is
  approximately 26 million a year.
• An estimated 4,000 units will be made affordable
  with the annual appropriation.

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Rental Housing Support Program - IL

• Funding was allocated using Census data and based
  on the number of rent burdened low-income renters
  in the area as a percent of the rent burdened
  low-income renters in the state.

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RHS Overview
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Bureau
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Rental Housing Support Program - IL

• To help coordinate the program, IHDA will
  contract with agencies around the state to manage
  the program in their area. Each awarded agency
  will have three year contracts.
• These awarded agencies are called Local
  Administering Agencies (LAAs). LAAs can be local
  governments, non-profits, or housing authorities.
• There will be three RFP rounds, each awarding the
  funding for the areas outside of Chicago.

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Rental Housing Support Program - IL

• LAAs will contract with landlords to provide
  program units, do outreach for potential tenants,
  and will monitor the funding and compliance of
  the rules for the program.
• Landlords will have responsibilities such as
  assisting with the processing of potential tenant
  applications, and reporting on the assistance
  needed.
• Tenants living in program units will pay
  approximately 30 of their income in rent, based
  on a contribution schedule. There are no time
  limits for tenants in the program.

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Rental Housing Support Program - IL

• The program was created through the efforts of
  many advocacy groups in Illinois, ranging in
  their focus.
• Originally the program was created for families
  who were at the severely low and extremely low
  income levels.
• During the process of creating the rules for the
  program, IHDA made some changes to broaden the
  programs potential beneficiaries.

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Rental Housing Support Program - IL

• The RHS Program was designed to benefit income
  eligible households with an equal opportunity to
  participate.

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Rental Housing Support Program - IL

• The Program encourages outreach to special needs
  households, but cannot require a special need to
  be eligible unless another funding source
  establishes the requirement for the unit.
• So there are no set asides built into the
  program. It is a First Come, First Serve
  structure.

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Rental Housing Support Program - IL

• Definition of Special Needs
• Homeless or imminently at risk of being homeless
• Living in institutional settings because of lack
  of suitable housing or imminently at risk of
  living in an institution
• Household member with a disability
• Physical disability
• Developmental disability
• Mental Illness
• HIV/AIDS
• Other

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Rental Housing Support Program - IL

• This idea of First Come, First Serve, even though
  its good to not restrict eligibility, has been
  one hurdle towards implementation.
• Another hurdle has been the perceived complexity
  in managing the program.

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Rental Housing Support Program - IL

• LAA roles
• Perform outreach for potential tenants
• Contract with local landlords to provide Program
• units, including negotiating rents
• Work with landlords to create and follow a
  Tenant
• Selection Plan, which includes the management
  of
• potential tenant applications and waiting
  lists
• Assist and approve tenant income certifications
  and
• recertifications.

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Rental Housing Support Program - IL

• LAA roles
• Perform physical inspections of units and
  properties, obtain lead based paint
  certifications from landlords.
• Develop a service plan to connect tenants to
  services.
• Provide dispute resolution between landlords and
  tenants
• Oversee funding and compliance including
• forwarding funding to landlords quarterly
• Maintain the Programs books and records, and
  working
• with IHDA staff during audits of those
  records
• Report Program activity to IHDA as it occurs
• On a quarterly basis, reconcile assistance sent
  to actual usage.

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Rental Housing Support Program - IL

• Since the program is not yet up and running, we
  are trying to adapt the program to make it less
  complex for LAAs.
• Less complexity also means less admin expenses.

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Rental Housing Support Program - IL

• There are no service dollars associated with the
  program. LAAs need to provide their Plan for
  Services, but the requirements are not strenuous.
• We are finding that many service providers are
  very interested in the program.
• This is an area to consider in designing a
  program, the link between rental assistance and
  support services.

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Rental Housing Support Program - IL

• Other than serving income eligible households and
  geographic dispersion, there are no expected
  outcomes.
• Data from the program will be collected to see
  who is being served, and will be reported out to
  interested parties.

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Rental Housing Support Program - IL

• If you would like to receive e-mail updates about
  the program, please send an e-mail to
  rhsp_at_ihda.org.
• Messages will include any program changes,
  changes to forms, and other information such as
  which agencies have been awarded with grants.

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Rental Housing Support Program - IL

• Thank you for your time today.