Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced last week that the state’s eviction moratorium will end on Aug. 1. The Illinois Supreme Court also announced an amendment concerning residential evictions — landlords and tenants in newly filed cases throughout August will be referred to state programs providing financial assistance.
The idea is to provide a one-month cushion before law enforcement begins enforcing residential evictions. The less comprehensive CDC moratorium also ends Aug. 1.
“August is really crucial as a transition period, especially for tenants and landlords who have not yet applied for rent assistance, to do so,” said Bob Palmer, policy director for Housing Action Illinois. “During that time, people can still apply for rent assistance through social service providers and or the court.”
Housing Action Illinois is a statewide coalition of about 150 community organizations including homeless shelters, nonprofit housing developers and housing counseling agencies.
“We're hopeful — cautiously optimistic — that the amount of resources available will be enough to stop a major tidal wave of evictions after the lifting of the moratorium and after law enforcement can start carrying out evictions,” Palmer explained on Tuesday’s St. Louis on the Air. “But honestly, [I’m] not really sure.”
Palmer offered advice to landlords and tenants as they prepare for the end of Illinois’ eviction moratorium and shared resources residents can tap into for financial and housing assistance, including illinoisrentalassistance.org/ and evictionhelpillinois.org.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is hosted by Sarah Fenske and produced by Alex Heuer, Emily Woodbury, Evie Hemphill and Lara Hamdan. Paola Rodriguez is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
