Landlords have filed two eviction notices in McLean County in the first days after the state’s eviction moratorium expired.
McLean County Circuit Clerk Don Everhart said the complaints were filed with the circuit clerk’s office on Monday. The state lifted its 17-month-long ban on evictions on Sunday, though the earliest anyone can be evicted in Illinois is Sept. 1 if they meet income requirements and can show COVID-related financial impacts that kept from making rent or mortgage payments.
In July, the Illinois Supreme Court established a triage program that would refer eviction cases to state programs that could provide financial help to renters and landlords. In McLean County, the courts, social service agencies, attorneys and others set up an eviction diversion program to help renters who are behind on payments.
The state of Illinois in May approved $1.5 billion to renters and homeowners at risk of losing their home.
The state adopted an eviction moratorium in March 2020 at the start of coronavirus pandemic restrictions. The federal eviction moratorium also expired on Sunday.
Housing advocates have expressed concern that lifting the moratorium, especially while some pandemic restrictions are still in place, could lead to a surge in evictions. Landlords say they have been forced to absorb the cost of maintaining their properties without rental income to cover utilities and other expenses.
The eviction filings in Illinois were ordered sealed through August 2022.
