As anticipated, late Friday Governor Pritzker extended the moratorium on residential evictions until September 19th, 2020.
According to the Executive Order:
“All state, county and local law enforcement officers in the State of Illinois are instructed to cease enforcement of orders of eviction for residential premises, unless the tenant has been found to pose a direct threat to the health and safety of other tenants, an immediate and severe risk to property, or a violation of any applicable building code. Health ordinance, or similar regulation. Nothing in this Executive Order shall be construed as relieving any individual of the obligation to pay rent, to make mortgage payments, or comply with any other obligation that an individual may have pursuant to a lease, rental agreement, or mortgage.”
Apparently Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart had urged Gov. J.B. Pritzker last week to extend the state’s eviction moratorium citing concerns that households need more time to catch up with rent while (State and City) assistance fund applications are pending.
In a letter to Pritzker and Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans, Dart urged the current expiration date be postponed until all city and county rent relief grants are dispersed.
“Obviously, it would be incredibly harmful to proceed with evictions when these funds are on their way to rescue so many tenants and landlords.” Dart wrote.
Dart, whose office oversees enforcement of evictions in Cook County, said while the current pause in evictions has helped, struggling renters remain anxious that the looming deadline on the moratorium was too soon. He wrote that waiting until the (Emergency Rental Assistance) money is paid out will stop hundreds of thousands of Cook County residents from being pushed out of their apartments.
Applications for Emergency Rental Assistance are available through August 28th at https://era.ihda.org/
