Between 2020 and 2021 in Champaign, more than 40 private certified housing locations for the University of Illinois campus decreased the number of violations…
Darrell Hoemann
Each year, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign maintenance crews inspect the conditions of its 17 undergraduate and graduate residence hall locations to correct the…
Google Map Street View
The mayors of the cities of Champaign and Urbana say the cities are filing documents to intervene in the efforts of Illinois American Water…
Darrell Hoemann
The university has a total of 37 student housing options: 24 regular dorms and 13 Private Certified Housing options. “A search for one month produced more than 800 Maintenance Inspector Weekend Logs, 2,400 Maintenance Request Database entries, and 3,000 work orders in the database,” University of Illinois Chief Records Officer Kristen Ruby stated in an email.
Housing Explorer web page
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign quietly removed an online portal last year that, compiled a database of student complaints against area landlords and landlord responses to those complaints. A university official said this month that the site was taken down because it violated campus website advertising rules and that it was too much work to maintain the complaints section. The University of Illinois Off-Campus Community Living suggests that students use sites like Google Reviews, Yelp, the U of I Reddit Page, or the Better Business Bureau to draw their own conclusions about leasing companies on campus.
Housing Explorer web page
At a time when students are struggling with leases, lockdowns, and landlords, the University’s Off-Campus Community Living Office has cut services and made major changes in its office. Among the cuts have been the elimination of the online service known as the “Housing Explorer,” which allowed students with information on rental properties in the Champaign-Urbana and to complain about landlords who provided poor housing.
5,210 individuals are on the waitlist for all properties and programs that the Housing Authority of Champaign County supports, according to the authority’s 2020 Fact Sheet. The annual budget from the federal government is about $23 million. According to the housing authority, they’re in the process of developing over $100 million in new units inside and outside Champaign County.
The Illinois Citizens Utility Board has warned of several scams that take advantage of utility consumers. Among the scams the board noted in a June 30 email to consumers was a maintenance plan, where water companies offer a protection plan to people that is often expensive and frequently goes unused. The board was created by state law in 1984 to advocate for Illinoisans in dealing with utility companies, and its website said it has saved the state’s residents $20 billion by stopping rate increases. The group is not affiliated with a political party, but was created by an Illinois law.
HACC
The national average income per household receiving assistance from a housing authority is approximately $12,000 a year, but in Champaign County the average income per household is $17,500. David Northern, Chief Executive Officer of the Housing Authority of Champaign County, attributes the higher income to a work program started in 2011.
Illinois Department of Commerce
With a budget of $600,000 the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission Weatherization program often can be overlooked. However, it helps many low-income families save money and get access to basic housing needs. According to the CCRPC 2018 annual report, the average material cost per home was $7,471. 39 homes received these services in 2018, an increase of 16 homes from the previous year. Champaign County Regional Planning Commission's Michael Hunter said he would like to see it increased, with more houses applying and obtaining services.
