The Illinois Supreme Court announced today the impending launch of a Court-Based Rental
Assistance Program (CBRAP) available to tenants and landlords across the state (outside of
Cook County) starting on September 15. Cook County will be operating its own court-based
rental assistance program slated to launch in early October with direct funding from the federal
government.
The Illinois Department of Housing (IDHS) has allocated approximately $60 million to the
CBRAP, which is only available to litigants in eviction court. Litigants may qualify for up to 12
months of past due rent and 3 months of future rent to prevent eviction and homelessness.
Unlike other rental assistance programs, the CBRAP will allow for expedited processing and will
have a designated phone number for individual court employees to call and ask questions about
the court-based program. It is intended that this program will act as a safety net for litigants who
are on the brink of eviction. As a condition of receiving rental assistance (from the CBRAP as
well as the other rental assistance programs), landlords agree not to evict the tenant for
nonpayment of the rent that is repaid.
Additionally, new Order M.R. 30370 requires all summons issued in residential eviction cases to
include an attached notice regarding the CBRAP. The new order and its attached notice can be
found here.
The Illinois Judicial Conference’s Court Operations During COVID-19 Task Force (Task Force)
recommended the order and notice for the court-based rental assistance program to the Court.
The Task Force has worked with the Governor’s office as well as agency representatives from
the IDHS and Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) to aid in the distribution of rental
assistance while avoiding evictions. The Chair of the Task Force is J. Timothy Eaton, Partner at
Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, and the Vice Chair is Chief Judge Eugene Doherty of the 17th
Circuit.
***Report Courtesy of the Supreme Court of Illinois***
