The Housing Authority of Cook County is facing a potential multimillion-dollar funding shortfall that could have broad repercussions throughout the real estate market as the struggling agency looks to cut costs, possibly leading to greater expenses for its housing voucher holders and a decline in the number of the people it serves.
The agency attributes the shortfall to an increase in its voucher usage rate and rising rents, which eat into its limited dollars allocated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
As of May 1, HACC stopped issuing new housing vouchers through its primary rental assistance program, lowered the value of the subsidy, limited rent increases and reverted to 2024 payment standards for allowable rent costs by ZIP code…