The Immigration Project in Normal said there has been significant demand for the Illinois Rental Payment Program to help landlords recoup money tenants have not been able to pay during the pandemic. The organization said it already has taken in more than 200 applications for landlord pandemic relief grants.
Sarah Mellor is the social services director for the project.
"I think that is just a drop in the bucket with the short three week window for this program. We haven’t seen as many applications as I would’ve expected, and I think during the next three week window we will have 10 times the number of applications as we currently have in process,” said Mellor.
She said the first period running through June 7 is for landlord initiated grants, though some have come from tenants who cannot pay and are trying to help landlords recoup some of the money. She said the next application period is for tenants.
More than 100 of those applications are from McLean County.
"It's important that the people who apply have a working email address and that is something we can help with. We have been setting up people who are not so technologically proficient in getting email addresses and understanding how to submit documentation digitally," said Mellor.
Each landlord can get up to $25,000 in lost rent replacement, depending on how many qualified tenants are in default.
Mellor said the project also puts on workshops to inform people about tenant rights and the eviction moratorium.
