Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis and the Illinois Supreme Court announced it is vacating the COVID-era orders related to the Court-Based Rental Assistance Program.

M.R. 30370, In re Illinois Courts Response to COVID-19 Emergency/Court-Based Rental Assistance Program and M.R. 32028, In re: Access to Sealed Information for the Court-Based Rental Assistance Program were entered in response to the COVID-19 emergency and permitted Court-Based Rental Assistance Program (CBRAP) administrators to access sealed eviction court case files to aid in the processing of applications. These and similar rules were maintained after the winding down of pandemic-related orders because the programs were still in effect and continuing to help numerous landlords and tenants.

Federal program funding for the Illinois Housing Development Authority’s (IHDA) court-based rental assistance program will expire on June 30, 2024. The IHDA will close the court-based rental assistance program portal on Friday, May 31, and applications must be submitted by this date to be considered for funding. A state-funded court-based rental assistance program has been proposed to replace these expiring programs and is still in the planning stage.

The vacating of M.R. 30370 is effective May 31, 2024, to avoid sending irrelevant information to tenants. The vacating of M.R. 32028 is effective July 31, 2024, to give IHDA sufficient time to complete its review of any remaining applications.

The Illinois Supreme Court Rules can be found here: https://www.illinoiscourts.gov/rules-law/supreme-court-rules