Illinois Grant to ACORN Housing Under Review

According to a 2008 annual progress report from the Illinois Housing Development Authority, “ACORN Housing” was listed as a recipient of a $100,000 capacity building grant for a “Predatory Lending Database Program.” The funding was announced in November 2008.

Rebecca Boykin, Communications Manager for the Illinois Housing Development Authority, provided this update on the grant:

The Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) awarded a $100,000 grant to ACORN Housing Corporation, Inc. as part of the Predatory Lending Database Program, which helps provide counseling for homebuyers facing predatory loans, in an effort to decrease the likelihood of future foreclosures. ACORN Housing was selected for funding following an application process that included a review of its HUD certification. Under the grant guidelines, ACORN Housing is required to submit a progress report later this month. They’ve been granted a portion of the $100,000. The remainder is under review in light of recent events.

There’s been debate over whether or not ACORN Housing received state money. The headline from a September 19 “Statehouse Insider” column in the State Journal-Register noted that “Illinois doesn’t have any contracts with ACORN.” Specifically, “the comptroller’s office handles state contracts and payments made under those contracts. It can’t find any payments made to ACORN going back two years.” The Capitol Fax Blog reported today that “the IHDA did give ACORN Housing, Inc. part of a $100,000 grant a few weeks ago, just before the latest scandal broke.” I called the comptroller’s office and was informed that payments must go through the comptroller’s accounting system before they show up in the online contract database; this may explain the delay.

In other news, U.S. Representatives Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Peter Roskam (R-IL) held a press conference this morning in Chicago asking the U.S. Census Bureau to cut ties with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), a sister group to ACORN. From their press release:

“ACORN and the SEIU have a long web of connections in Chicago and around the country, and there’s simply no place for a group so closely connected to ACORN to be part of something of such national importance as the U.S. Census,” Congressman Roskam said. “In this time where this Congressional Majority is running record deficits, ACORN should have no place cashing checks from the American taxpayer. We were promised a more open and honest government–that means keeping ACORN from the federal trough.”

“Given SEIU’s co-location with ACORN in Chicago and SEIU’s intimate financial relationship with ACORN, we should take action to protect the public from the corruption of the 2010 census,” Congressman Kirk said. “To defend the integrity of the process, the Census Bureau should end its close relationship with ACORN’s close sister organization, the SEIU.”