To qualify, at minimum, you must:

1) Reside within the Chicago city limits.
2) Provide a government issued ID.
3) For Homeowners seeking assistance: Demonstrate your total household income was at 120% or below the Area Median Income (AMI) prior to March 1, 2020. (Refer to the table below to determine your income eligibility.)
4)For Renters seeking assistance: Demonstrate your total household income was at 60% or below the Area Median Income (AMI) prior to March 1, 2020. (Refer to the table below to determine your income eligibility.)
5)Have experienced a change in your financial status (after March 1, 2020) due to the COVID-19 crisis.
6)Must be 18 years of age or over, or be a financially independent minor.

All this seemed fairly straightforward and led hundreds of thousands of people to filing application, many of whom unemployed as a direct result of the pandemic. Now, we all know that most low-income families and individuals have FHA-backed loans because many just can’t come up with the down-payment required during a home-purchase. The CARES Act enacted by the US government allowed for FHA-backed loans to apply for forbearance which is nothing but a deferment of your loan-term for a few months – if you are unable make payments. It does not “cancel” your loan nor does it provide any help with the loan itself.

Now, let’s discuss this “Chicago’s bait and switch” that I mentioned as the title of my article. As you have realized by now, many people applied for it. The website even provided a number to call and check the status of your application. Everything seemed to be fine and most Chicagoans believed it was a waiting game, and at some point in time, they would receive that happy email saying their application was approved.

A couple of months passed and people received no communication unless they needed to provide additional documentation. Folks who tried to call the number to check the status of their application had to leave a voicemail most of the time, and request a callback that most people never received. Those who called and were able to get a hold of a live-person were told something similar along these lines: “Everything looks fine, and you’d get an email soon!”

Last week the NHS started sending out application decision to hundreds of thousands of people, most of whom are still struggling, unemployed and facing severe financial hardship. Surprise, surprise…Chicago was able to come up with a “new eligibility” requirement and started sending out denial letters. The denial emails looked like this:

So, now if your mortgage was FHA-backed which most low-income families do, you will not see the relief. After months of waiting, struggling Chicagoans now have nothing, and are delivered a denial letter with a reason for their ineligibility. The odd part is that the reason given was not even mentioned in the initial application requirement. Sounds like a classic “bait and switch”, doesn’t it?

It is time for Mayor Lightfoot to explain when and why this new “eligilibilty requirement ” was introduced. Why this requirement was not mentioned on NHS website? What was her reason to discard FHA-backed loans?

These are valid questions. Hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans are now in a limbo!

Mayor Lightfoot must realize that citizens understand these “bait and switch” tactics very well. It’s OK to criticize political opponents, but it is not OK to deceive struggling Chicagoans. It is not OK to refuse financial help to people by coming up with requirements without making applicants aware of them. It is not OK to create deceitful public PR-stunts when millions of Chicagoans are struggling to put food on the table and make basic payments. Her actions amount to insult to hard-working Chicagoans whom she pretends to represent in the middle of a national emergency.

With over 11% unemployment, and more than 20,000 new applications for the week of August 10, Illinois’ jobless woes are far from over. The $600 federal boost expired on the week ending July 25, leaving hundreds of thousands of families struggling to make ends meet.
This post is not meant to be political, but as a journalist at heart, I can’t help but notice the blatant incompetency of the Illinois government.
Since no other channel is covering this I feel compelled to do so. This post is intended to inform my fellow Illinoisans, and clear up some confusion that I feel still exists around this much-needed aid.

President Trump signed an executive order on August 8, which allows for all 50 states to apply for a FEMA grant to help the unemployed. The cash available for this Lost Wage Assistance program is limited, because it’s taken from our Disaster Relief Funds…something intended for emergencies such as a hurricane, etc. The program is not funded by the states, but the federal government.
Initially, the mainstream media was all over the story as to how this was unconstitutional, and that the money would never actually reach the American people. Some “experts” touted that this was a pure political stunt by the President, and that nobody would actually “see it”.
However, most of those speculations proved to be false in the last few days. While it is understood that the funds allocated for this program are not unlimited, most states including the previously skeptical and “refusing” California and New York already applied for the grant. Arizona got the grant approved in about 2 days, and has already started disbursing those funds to its residents. Many other states have been approved within less than 48 hours from filing their application.
However, Governor JB Pritzker of Illinois has remained silent on this issue, leaving over a million Illinoisans in the dark. If you follow Twitter, you’d realize that thousands of people asked him why it is that Illinois has not even applied for the grant. He has not answered!
Our Governor comes on TV almost every day telling us how deeply he cares for his fellow Illinoisans, while denying them the vital lifeline that’s available to them thanks to the President’s Executive Order.

I understand that this post may trigger some emotions. But the reality remains that $300 for even a few weeks is better than $0. Let’s put our partisan beliefs aside for a moment, and reflect on something that concerns many of us and our friends. Let’s reflect on a question that is currently asked my thousands of Illinois residents who are just waiting for “something to happen”.

Today, Saturday, the House voted to pass a bill to fund billions of dollars to revive the USPS, but any bill to send direct help to millions of Americans was not on the table. Again, $400, $300 or even $200 weekly is better than $0, which is precisely the amount of unemployment boost that Americans are currently receiving. $0. Nada!

Let’s not forget whether our Governor acts sooner or later, he is a multi-billionaire, with a “B”, and still receives $177,000 yearly salary. Our Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi receives an annual salary of $223,000. They are not affected by this pandemic! They are not worried about putting food on the table or making basic payments. They are, thanks to our votes and tax-payer dollars, “employed” and well.

When exactly will Illinois apply for the grant is up in the air. Maybe our Governor will apply when the limited funds for this program is almost gone? Or, maybe, he won’t bother to apply at all, and try to make Illinois residents believe it’s “Trump’s fault”?

You can say what you want about the President, but he did do at least something to help the people, our Governor did not. All that he had to do is apply, but maybe his personal feud with the President, mixed with his pride is preventing him from doing the job that he was hired to do.

Whether or not you’re directly affected by this situation, I believe the least we can do to change the course of things is voice our opinion here. This simple act might help a fellow citizen in these troubled times…