This has been going on for months, and although most residents understand that it has not been an easy task for Illinois to implement some of the federal programs (PUA and PEUC), it seems as though that the people on top have not done much to prepare themselves for an impending benefit distribution disaster.

Many currently unemployed started receiving their payments back in March 2020 shortly after the pandemic began. As unemployment entitlement benefits last exactly a year, many of those currently unemployed would see their benefits stop exactly after their benefit year-end date. If you are unsure what your benefit year end-date is, log on to your IDES account and pull up any payment history. On top of the page, you will see your Claimant ID and your benefit year end date. That date is crucial because that is the last day for which most of you you will receive benefits.

However, technically, since President Biden signed the new relief bill last week, your benefit extensions should remain active until the first week of September 2021. This makes many people believe in case they are unable to secure a new employment anytime soon, they would keep receiving benefits without interruption, right? Wrong! This is exactly where the problem begins!

If you have not worked at all since last year when you started receiving unemployment, you will have to CALL and physcally speak to an agent before those new “extensions” can resume. Most unemployed Americans did not work at all since last March. Therefore, this warning goes to hundreds of thousands of people. This also means that you will have to put yourself on a callback list soon, and hope that someone calls you back only a few days after your benefit year ends. Remember, if you have not worked since last year, regardless of whether you have a balance in your unemployment account, you will NOT receive benefits unless you speak to someone. Only a live person can put you on a transitional claim (PUA/PEUC/EB). Unless you do that, you’d receive nothing. No $300 boost, no regular payment….zilch!

There will not be any automatic continuation of the extension. At this point when Americans are struggling to make ends meet, you’d think that our state government would be on top of their game, and that they would do everything they can to help Illinois residents. You’d expect they would make these extensions automatic as long as the claimants are certifying for benefits as “still unemployed”. You’d hope that someone in the government would know about this very well, and bring up this issue with Governor Pritzker and the IDES.

This may not apply to you IF you’ve worked part-time [and have made 3x your Weekly Benefit Amount) or were unemployed on and off since you first started receiving unemployment. But, the percentage of those people is low.

You might be asking what you can possibly do right now. First: check that benefit year end-date in your payment history. If you have not worked since you started receiving unemployment, you can be sure that your benefits would stop after that date. Second: Put yourself on a callback list right away if you are not on one already. Third: if you receive a call after your benefit year ends, request the agent to put you on a “transitional claim” based on whatever extensions are available for you (PUA or PEUC depending on the type of your initial claim). Keep certifying if you can even if your benefits stop.

Reminder: the agent can put you on an extension ONLY AFTER that benefit year-end date. Not a day before! There is no way for them to “push it through”.

You can also write to the Governor’s office and share this if you’d like. Nobody in this country should have to wait to receive unemployment benefits in the middle of a pandemic while their income has been slashed to almost nothing due to no fault of their own. People have endured enough since last year. They do not need any more financial stress.

Also, please share this with anyone you know who’s currently unemployed in Illinois so they are aware. I do not make money from you sharing this. There is no ad here. This post is not designed to the bash the IDES as I understand implementing some of these changes into a set algorithm is difficult. However, something could be done so this does not happen. I am just a citizen journalist trying to help my fellow Americans!

Be kind to each other!

Here’s a list of tax-related things that usually takes place following a major disaster:

The IRS gives taxpayers more time to file and pay.

Taxpayers whose address of record is located in an area identified by FEMA for their Individual Assistance program will automatically receive extra time from the IRS to file returns and pay taxes. The IRS’s disaster website page provides new info and links to resources. Information is usually available on the IRS Twitter account as well. Taxpayers can also call the agency’s disaster line at 866-532-5227 with questions.

Taxpayers can qualify for a casualty loss tax deduction.

People whose propeties have been lost or damaged due to a federally declared disaster may qualify to claim a casualty loss deduction. They can claim this on their current or prior-year tax return. This may result in a larger refund.

People can apply for a disaster loan or grant.

The Small Business Administration offers financial help to business owners, homeowners and renters. This help is for those in a federally declared disaster area. To qualify, a taxpayer must have filed all required tax returns. the EIDL grant and loan as well as the Paycheck Protection Program (the PPP) were some ways that the US Congress helped the American people.

Taxpayers might need a tax return transcript.

People requiring a tax transcript to support their disaster claims can obtain free transcripts by using Get Transcript to access their transcripts immediately online or to request mail delivery. They can also call 800-908-9946 to request mail delivery or submit Form 4506-T, Request for Transcript of Tax Return.

People who need a copy of their tax return, should file Form 4506, Request for Copy of Tax Return. The IRS waives the usual fees and expedites requests for copies of tax returns for people who need them to apply for disaster-related benefits or to file amended returns claiming disaster-related losses. If filing Forms 4506-T or 4506, the taxpayer should state on the form the request is disaster related and list the state and type of event. This helps speed up the process.

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.

I felt compelled to write about this because many of my fellow Americans are being used as a bait by both political parties at this point. We are too close to November 3rd, and I’m not here to bash any particular party as both parties seem to have forgotten about the People.
We tend to focus on headlines, with many of us becoming victims of pure clickbaits both from new channels, blogs and YouTube videos.

The rise of so-called “stimulus experts” on YouTube has been astronomical. Most of these people would say anything to get that “click”, and would say anything for you to keep watching their videos…because it makes them money. They would rather flat-out lie to you as opposed to telling the truth…because without (even a fake!) news on stimulus that creates some “hope” in people, they themselves would lose adverttising revenues from YouTube. This practice is not only appalling but takes away millions of potentially productive hours from the American public…which they can use to learn a new skill, or do something to create new income source.

I am not here to give you false hope, because that would mean an insult to millions of struggling Americans…

So, instead of going back to the CARES Act which you know has already expired, I’d rather focus on what’s going on right now.

There’s no talks scheduled on the next relief bill at this point. None. The GOP has a $1.2T proposal for the Democrats which the latter refused because it did not include some of the provisions that the Democrats wanted. Specially, provisions to fund State and local governments, and a few things unrelated to the pandemic. However, they both agreed on sending direct payments to the American people, in addition to extended unemployment beneifts…even though the Republicans proposed $300 extra weekly benefits and the Dems wanted to see a higher number.

However, the Democrats refused to pass parts of the bill which both sides agreed on. Because they know passing parts of the bill will lead them to losing leverage on future negotiations if any. Besides, if 30 million Americans keep struggling, that would help both sides polarize the population needed to sway votes…

Therefore, it is not just convenient but important for them to keep the stimulus debate incomplete until the election is over. The reality is…the Senate just can’t pass a bill without the House voting on it, and vice versa. The President does have executive powers, but at this point…he did most of what he could have done…by creating the Lost Wage Assistance (LWA) program to provide an additional $300 to unemployed Americans. But, the funds for that are limited and will likely get wiped out before the election even begins, which will then become a talking point for the opposition. States such as Texas, Missouri, Tennessee and Montana have already run out of funds to continue providing LWA, with most of them having only paid 3 and 5 weeks on average.

Creating chaos and discontent is exactly what works for elections. If you have chaotic situation in place, all you have to do is control the narrative and blame the “other side” for the problem. These politicians are not looking for a solution, nor do they want to do anything constructive for the American people. Doing something good for the People would be “untimely”! These little “bills” peddled by politicians from both sides are simply meant to calm down their constituents. They do not want to be seen or perceived as “doing nothing”…like that, they will get re-elected.

I am just being the messenger here. I love this country and its people. I do not care which political party you support. I find it awful that some “journalists” and YouTubers would rather clickbait you into reading and listening to their nonsense as opposed to telling it like it is…

I will repeat, there will not be a stimulus package. Both sides recently agreed to prevent government shutdown before the election. But, they kept stimulus negotiations stalled. They did it for a reason. Shutting down government affects THEM…it would be their own admins and clerks in DC without a paycheck. It would be THEM without a paycheck….How is that helpful for either party before the election?

Hurting the American people does not hurt them. If anything, it helps them. But, there is something you can do, flood your Congressmen and Senators will calls and emails. Tell them their party will lose your vote if nothing is passed asap. Do this regardless of your party affiliation. THAT is the only hope you have!!

The only other possibility is if President Trump himself finds a way to send direct payments to Americans…

Focus your time on reading a book, or do something that you like…Those “stimulus” videos and those hopeful thumbnails on YouTube are meant to trick you. You are listening to utter bs, and making a stranger advertising $$$!