Illinois Housing Development Authority Takes Steps to Protect Applicants' Personal Information

CHICAGO - On Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022, the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) became aware of a breach of the Illinois Rental Payment Program (ILRPP) web portal where some tenant applicants could see documents submitted by other tenant applicants. IHDA immediately took the portal offline and blocked all access to external users to isolate and diagnose this issue. The portal was shut down until Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022 while IHDA identified and resolved the issue.

IHDA determined the exposure was not caused by external forces or hackers, nor did it hinder the processing of applications for emergency rental assistance. IHDA worked with its vendor and determined that the breach was caused by a coding error associated with a web portal update.

At the time of this writing, the total number of applications submitted to IHDA for the rental program is 89,750. IHDA has determined that this exposure could have potentially affected 101 of these applications; testing has confirmed that no other applications were affected and the vendor has corrected the problem that caused the breach.

"As soon as this information was brought to our attention, we took immediate action to ensure the safety of our applicants was prioritized," said IHDA Executive Director Kristin Faust. "IHDA fiercely guards the security of personal information in its possession and regrets this incident."

While no longer accepting new applications for assistance, the ILRPP portal remains open until Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022, for landlords to complete their portion of tenant-initiated applications so they may be considered for review.

About the Illinois Housing Development Authority
IHDA (www.ihda.org) is a self-supporting state agency that finances the creation and the preservation of affordable housing across Illinois. Since its creation in 1967, IHDA has allocated $18 billion and financed approximately 255,000 affordable housing units for residents of Illinois.