Illinois Will Launch a Mortgage Assistance Program This Spring

This spring, homeowners in Illinois who have struggled to pay their mortgage due to COVID-19 can start applying for financial assistance. The State will launch the Illinois Emergency Homeowner Assistance Fund, a federal program funded through the American Rescue Plan Act, and administered by the Illinois Housing Development Authority. 

“I know we’ve been waiting for these funds for a while and it’s really been a holdup from the U.S. Treasury (of) being able to get this money out the door,” House Housing Committee Chair Delia Ramirez, a Chicago Democrat, said during a hearing Wednesday.

Find out if you qualify for these programs here.

The Illinois Emergency Homeowner Assistance Fund will provide up to $30,000.00 in grants to eliminate or reduce arrearage associated with homeownership, prevent mortgage delinquencies and defaults, foreclosures, loss of utilities, or home energy services, and displacement from financial hardship that occurred after January 21, 2020 (including a hardship that began before January 21, 2020, but continued after that date). Assistance will be paid directly to the mortgagor’s loan servicer, taxing body, or other approved entity on behalf of the homeowner.

Who Is Eligible for the Illinois Emergency Homeowner Assistance Fund?

“These are requirements that the federal government and Treasury are imparting to us,” agency Executive Director Kristin Faust said. “The homeowner assistance fund is meant to be a fund of last resort.”

Find out if you qualify for these programs here.

To be eligible, both the applicant and the property must meet certain qualifications. The homeowners must own and currently live in the property as their primary residence. Eligible properties include single-family properties, condominium units, 1 to 4-unit properties where the homeowner is living in one of the units as their primary residence, Manufactured homes permanently affixed to the property and taxed as real estate, or mobile homes not permanently affixed to real property. The household income must be at or below 150% of the Area Median Income. Homeowners are advised to contact their mortgage servicer or a housing counseling agency, and if there is no other option, apply for the IEHAF.

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