Committee on Housing & Real Estate April 22, 2020 City Council Meeting
ORDINANCE
WHEREAS, As the City of Chicago confronts the unprecedented public health crisis ofthe novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, our residents and businesses are confronting devastating illness, financial hardship, and sharply reduced time spent in public; and
WHEREAS, Governor J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot have taken difficult but necessary steps to combat the spread of COVID-19 and "flatten the curve", including issuing stay at home orders, requiring "non-essential" business to close to the public, prohibiting dine-in service at bars and restaurants, and closing schools, parks, the Lakefront Trail, and other public facilities; and
WHEREAS, To ensure the effectiveness of the stay at home order, it is important that people leave their residences only for essential needs and for truly necessary and essential work; and
WHEREAS, Thousands of Chicagoans have seen their income reduced or eliminated entirely as a result of COVID-19, particularly individuals who work in the retail, food-service, and hospitality industries; and
WHEREAS, Lost income due to COVID-19 has left numerous Chicagoans unable to pay their rents on time and in full. Notably, the City of Chicago recently stood up a rental assistance program that provided $1,000 grants to 2,000 Chicagoans, and approximately 86,000 Chicagoans applied for a grant through this program. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, half of all Chicago households who rented were rent-burdened (meaning that they spent more than 30% of their income on housing), and approximately 180,000 residents needed affordable housing but could not find it; and
WHEREAS, The federal government has directed entities including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to provide mortgage forbearance of up to twelve (12) months to borrowers negatively affected by COVID-19. Property owners who are eligible to receive mortgage forbearance are often able to pass this saving down to ...
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