Nearly 27,000 Families Asked The City For Rent Relief. Chicago Won’t Be Able To Give It To Many

The city set aside about $80 million for its most recent round of rent relief — but Chicagoans who applied requested a total of $137 million in aid.

Kelly Bauer

CHICAGO — More than 26,000 households asked the city for emergency rent relief during the most recent round of applications.

In all, people requested $137 million in aid, according to a Department of Housing news release. That’s far more than the city will help this round, as officials set aside about $80 million to help people pay off up to 12 months of past-due rent, three months of future rent and bills.

The most recent round of funding — which accepted applications for three weeks — saw a total of 26,843 applications come in, according to the Department of Housing. Of those, 12,687 applications were for tenants, 9,889 were from landlords and 4,267 were from both.

People applying requested about $113 million in rental assistance and $24.2 million utility bill relief, according to the Department of Housing.

A map shows more applications came in from the South and West sides.

The program is meant to help people who have struggled financially due to the coronavirus pandemic, leaving them at risk of losing their home.

While an eviction moratorium has been in place during the pandemic, it’s set to expire by August. Households that struggled with rent could be evicted as the moratorium ends while little financial relief has been available.

People who applied will get updates on their status during the next two weeks, according to the Department of Housing.