More Budget Cuts and Delayed Payments Will Increase Homelessness in Illinois

March 24, 2010—Four advocacy groups working to create affordable housing and end homelessness released a report today demonstrating that unless the State of Illinois passes comprehensive tax reform even more people will lose their housing and become homeless.

The report was based on a survey of state-funded providers of homelessness prevention funds, emergency shelter, homeless youth programs, transitional housing and permanent supportive housing.

Among the survey’s key findings were:

1. Agencies are already turning people in need of housing away due to state budget cuts. Sixty-one agencies turned away 1,292 people in January 2010 because of prior year state budget cuts, representing 9% of the 13,720 people they were able to serve. This does not include additional people who were turned away for issues not related to state budget cuts, such as lack of bed space.

2. Agencies are already owed a significant amount of money by the state and are taking on additional debt to manage the crisis. In total, 54 agencies are owed $10.2 million from the state in delayed payments, or about $189,000 per agency. The average delay in state payments is slightly less than 3 months, with delays as high as 9 months.

3. State-funded programs create jobs and leverage federal funding. State funding for 61 agencies supports more than 1,600 jobs across Illinois. Forty-nine agencies are leveraging $47.7 million in federal funds every year that depend on a state match.

4. More budget cuts will result in fewer people receiving services and the loss of state-funded jobs. Based on the responses of 66 agencies, if programs are cut substantially in the FY11 budget, 79% of agencies would have to reduce services and 74% of agencies would have to lay off staff. Forty-one percent of agencies would have to eliminate programs.

Click here to download a PDF version of the complete report.

CHA Voucher Holders Continue to Be Concentrated in Segregated, Poor Chicago Communities

February 8, 2010—A report issued today, "Are We Home Yet? Creating Real Choice for Housing Choice Voucher Families in Chicago" finds that the majority of the Chicago Housing Authority's 35,000 Housing Choice Voucher households reside in predominately African-American, high poverty neighborhoods within the City of Chicago, and that more voucher families are now concentrated in these types of communities than ten years ago.

Click here to download a PDF version of the complete report.

From the Front Lines of Foreclosure, Counseling Agencies Struggle to Meet Demand

Suburban homeowners less likely to receive foreclosure counseling

July 7, 2009—Housing counselors are struggling to keep up with strong demand for foreclosure prevention services, while some communities lack counseling resources all together, according to a new report by Housing Action Illinois, a counseling advocate, and Woodstock Institute.

The report, entitled On the Foreclosure Front Lines: Surveying the Capacity of HUD-Certified Housing Counseling Agencies in Illinois, found that much of South Suburban Cook County, McHenry County, and parts of Northwest Will County had startling gaps in counseling services. Even in areas where several agencies actively provide foreclosure prevention counseling, four out of every five new foreclosure cases in 2008 did not access counseling services.

Click here to download the complete report as a PDF file.

Use of Homeless Shelters in Illinois Significantly Increased During Second Half of 2008

January 15, 2009—Homeless service providers in Illinois saw a marked increase in the need for their services during the last six months of 2008. This is a trend that is likely to continue as long as the economy continues to worsen.

During December 2008, 71% of state-funded providers of overnight and transitional shelter reported serving an increased number of people experiencing homelessness compared to six months previous. According to the report released by Housing Action Illinois, more than one-third, 35%, of agencies reported an increase of more than 10%.

Click here to download the entire report as a PDF file.

Loan Servicers Rarely Offer Relief to Illinois Homeowners Facing Foreclosure
Federal Moratorium on Foreclosures and Mandate to Modify Loans Needed

December 22, 2008—Even as the number of home foreclosures continues to increase, 75% of loan servicers rarely agree to workout plans that allow homeowners in Illinois to maintain their homes.

These survey findings, reported in Who's Serving Whom? Analyzing The Frequency Of Loan Servicer Modifications, provide evidence to support federal legislation to systematically and automatically modify loan terms, a temporary federal moratorium on home foreclosures until such legislation becomes law, and other measures.

Housing Action Illinois conducted a survey of HUD-certified housing counseling agencies in September 2008 to determine how often specific loan servicers offered workout plans to homeowners in order to avoid foreclosure.

Click here to download the entire report as a PDF file.

Briefing Book Calls for Affordable Housing in Capital Budget

February 2008 — At the state capital yesterday, a briefing book for state legislators was released, calling for the inclusion of affordable housing funding in the state's capital budget.

Click here to download the briefing book in PDF format.

Housing Oak Park Identifies Plan for Residents, Village, to Get Involved in Affordable Housing.

November 2007 — Housing Oak Park has recently released a compilation of resources and recommendations to maintain the inclusive nature of Oak Park. Accessible for both concerned citizens and government officials.

Click here to download the full report in PDF format.

KCHAC Report on Affordable Housing in Kane County, Illinois

November 2007 — Prepared by the Kane County Housing Action Coalition in association with Housing Action Illinois, this report was created to assess the current state of affordable housing in Kane County, Illinois.

Click here to download the full report in PDF format.

DCHAC Report on Workforce Housing in DeKalb County, Illinois

Novmeber 2007 — Prepared by the DeKalb County Housing Action Coalition, this report focuses on whether the future workforce in the county will be able to find housing while paying less than the recommended level of 30% of their budget.

Please direct your comments to hrubin@niu.edu.

Click here to download the full report in PDF format.

IHARP Report on Locating Affordable and Accessible Housing for People with Disabilities in Illinois

May 2007 — The Illinois Assisted Housing Action Research Project (IHARP) is an assisted housing database project for Chicago and the state of Illinois.  This IHARP report examines accessible and adaptable affordable housing options for persons with disabilities in Illinois. Unlike past IHARP reports that focused on a particular program, we are looking at all subsidized housing programs in Illinois to get a better understanding of what exists, where it is located and to whom it is available.

Click here to download the full report in PDF format.

Housing Counselors Report That HB 4050 Helped Borrowers Understand Unaffordable and Misleading Loans

April 2007 — 11 HUD-certified Counseling Agencies that participated in the HB 4050 Predatory Lending Database (‘PLD’) Pilot Program released a report on the services they provided under the Pilot Program.  The report finds that many borrowers did not understand the terms of the loans that they were getting and that loan terms were often unaffordable and misleading for borrowers. 

Click here to download the full report in PDF format.

Insecure in Your Own Home: What It Means to Rent in Illinois

January 2006 — Lockouts, forcible entry, and security deposit disputes are common occurrences for Illinois renters, according to a new report called “Insecure in Your Own Home: What It Means to Rent in Illinois,” released by the Illinois Tenants Rights Working Group. The report calls attention to the experiences of statewide survey respondents who lack the basic consumer protections for safe, stable, and secure housing.

Click here to download the complete study in PDF format.

IHARP Report on HOME Program

November 2004 — The Illinois Assisted Housing Research Project (IHARP) released a report evaluating the federal HOME Housing Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program, the most important source of federal funds cities and counties have at their disposal to improve local housing conditions.

Click here to download the full report in PDF format.

Past IHARP Reports

More information about the Illinois Assisted Housing Research Project (IHARP) and past reports are available at the website of the Nathalie P. Voorhees Center for Neighborhood and Community Improvement.