CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A District Court Judge on Monday approved a landmark settlement agreement between certain public housing residents and the Chicago Housing Authority.
The settlement ensures that all eligible public housing residents will receive adequate notice of their right to request a “hardship exemption” to the minimum monthly rent requirement of $ 75 and will provide financial relief to residents who were charged the minimum rent when they were entitled to an exemption.
Under the agreement, the CHA will remove from every public housing resident’s ledger all unpaid minimum rent charges that have accrued since February 2016.
“Every year CHA was charging more than 1,500 of its lowest-income residents minimum rents that most could not afford. Some of these residents borrowed money or went without food to pay the minimum rent," said John Bouman, the Director of Legal Action Chicago.
"Others didn’t pay the amount demanded, and some of them got evicted for non-payment. To CHA’s credit, it did not deny the problem when we brought it to their attention. Instead, they worked with us to create a solution."
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