HUD to reduce rent for residents of public housing complexes

THEBES, Ill. (AP) - Federal housing officials have agreed to reduce the rent for more than two dozen families who have been told they must move out of two southern Illinois public housing complexes that have fallen into disrepair.

The (Carbondale) Southern Illinoisan reports that the Department of Housing and Urban Development agreed in a letter to U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois to cut the rent for the housing complexes in Thebes to between $50 and $300.

In February, HUD told residents that they would ultimately have to move out of the buildings because Alexander County's housing authority could not afford to make the necessary repairs that would address health and safety concerns. Duckworth had asked if HUD planned to reduce the rent in buildings that have HUD has deemed unsafe.