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NOT LICENSED IN ILLINOIS — Simply Approved Mortgages LLC (NMLS #2620881) is licensed for consumer residential mortgages in Florida (Mortgage Broker License #MBR7685) and Colorado only. This page is educational. Nothing on it is an offer, solicitation, application invitation, or commitment to lend in Illinois.

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Housing Choice Voucher

Illinois Section 8 rental loans, county by county

Every Illinois county HUD publishes voucher data for, with its own page of FY2026 Fair Market Rents, income limits, payment standard math, and coverage-ratio and cash-to-close tools.

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Quick answerSummary
  • ✓Every Illinois county HUD publishes voucher data for has its own page below.
  • ✓Fair Market Rents and income limits shown are HUD's published figures (FY2026 rents, FY2026 income limits).
  • ✓Payment standards are set locally, normally within 90%–110% of the applicable Fair Market Rent.
  • ✓Voucher rentals are financed with business-purpose investment property loans.

Fair Market Rent and Payment Standard Worksheet

Published HUD Fair Market Rents for the county you choose, plus a worksheet for the payment standard, tenant share, and coverage ratio. An FMR is a published figure, not an approved rent: your public housing agency sets the payment standard and must also find the rent reasonable compared with similar unassisted units.

Select a county

Published Fair Market Rent
—
Payment standard at your %
$0
Assumed tenant share
$0
Assumed housing assistance payment
$0
Coverage ratio on total contract rent
0.00
Coverage ratio on the assistance portion alone
0.00

Data year: — (loading). Source: HUD USER Fair Market Rents

Illustrative only, not a quote, lock, offer, or commitment to lend, and not a statement of the rent any agency will approve or pay. Payment standards, small area FMRs, rent reasonableness determinations, inspection results, tenant share, contract terms, and re-examination timing are set by the local public housing agency under HUD rules and vary by jurisdiction. Lender and investor treatment of assisted rent also varies by program. Simply Approved Mortgages LLC is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of HUD or any public housing agency.

Next steps

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Emailing your Section 8 rent and coverage worksheet scenario opens our secure request form so a Simply Approved Mortgages Loan Officer can review those numbers. Estimates are illustrative and are not a quote, lock, offer, or commitment to lend.

Voucher rent, explained

Fair market rent, payment standards, and the rent a lender will actually use

Four different rent figures get used interchangeably in voucher deals, and mixing them up is what breaks an investor pro forma. Here is what each one means and where it belongs.

What the rent figure on this page actually means

The Fair Market Rent shown for a county is a HUD-published benchmark for the area as a whole at a given bedroom count. It is a starting reference, not the rent a housing agency will approve for a specific unit and not the rent a lender will use to size a loan. The agency sets its own payment standard, tests the asking rent for reasonableness against comparable unassisted units, and inspects the property before any contract rent is approved. A lender then qualifies the loan on the executed lease or the appraiser's comparable rent schedule. Use the figure here to decide whether a market is worth underwriting, then replace it with the approved contract rent before you rely on the result.

What a Fair Market Rent actually is

HUD publishes a Fair Market Rent (FMR) for each metropolitan area and non-metropolitan county every fiscal year, and Small Area Fair Market Rents (SAFMRs) by ZIP code in designated metro areas. It is a statistical estimate of gross rent — rent plus tenant-paid utilities — at a set percentile of standard-quality units in that market. It is a budgeting and program-administration figure. It is not a rent survey of your street, not an appraisal, not a rent a landlord is entitled to, and not a figure any lender is obliged to use.

How a public housing agency turns FMR into a payment standard

Each public housing agency (PHA) sets its own payment standard, normally within a band around the applicable FMR, with HUD-approved exceptions in some markets. The payment standard caps the subsidy calculation — it is not the rent. Before approving a tenancy the PHA also applies rent reasonableness, comparing the proposed rent with comparable unassisted units, and inspects the unit against HUD housing quality standards. A unit can sit below the payment standard and still be denied on reasonableness or inspection.

Who pays what once a tenancy is approved

The approved rent is split. The PHA pays a Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) directly to the owner under a HAP contract, and the household pays the balance, generally calculated from adjusted income. Both parts can change when the household's income changes, when the PHA updates its payment standard, or when a unit fails a later inspection. Treat voucher rent as contractual and re-examined periodically — never as guaranteed income.

Why FMR is not the rent that qualifies a loan

Lenders underwrite the rent they can document, not the rent a program publishes. Depending on the file that is typically an executed lease, a HAP contract, an appraiser's market rent opinion on Form 1007 or 1025, or the lower of those figures — and many investor programs apply a vacancy or management factor on top. A published FMR is useful for screening a market. It does not set the rent used in a debt service coverage ratio.

How investors use FMR data well

Use FMR and SAFMR data at the top of the funnel: comparing submarkets, sanity-checking a seller's rent roll, sizing bedroom mix before you tour, and planning where voucher demand is concentrated. Then move to documented figures — actual leases, comparable rents, and the PHA's current payment standard — before you underwrite. Run the documented rent through the DSCR calculator rather than the published FMR, and check the program rules on DSCR qualifying requirements.

Where a stabilized voucher rental fits in a longer plan

Once a unit is leased, inspected, and seasoned, its documented income is what supports a rate-and-term refinance or a cash-out refinance, which is how many investors recycle equity into the next property through the BRRRR cycle and eventually into portfolio financing. Whether that works depends on the appraised value, the documented income, and the program in place at the time — no outcome is promised here.

State and local rules are their own question

Some states, counties, and cities restrict refusing a tenant because of the source of their income, and the rules differ meaningfully by jurisdiction and change over time. Check the current text published by the state or local authority that issued the rule, and take legal questions to your own counsel. Nothing on this page is legal advice.

Fair Market Rent and Small Area Fair Market Rent figures are published by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Payment standards, rent reasonableness determinations, and inspections are set and performed by the local public housing agency. Simply Approved Mortgages LLC is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of HUD or any public housing agency, and cannot determine eligibility for any housing assistance program. Educational only — not a quote, lock, offer, or commitment to lend.

102 Illinois counties

Fair Market Rents and income limits are HUD's published figures (FY2026 rents, FY2026 income limits). Payment standards are adopted locally by each public housing agency, normally within 90%–110% of the applicable Fair Market Rent, so confirm the standard with the agency covering the property address.

How payment standards and voucher rent work in Illinois

HUD publishes a Fair Market Rent for each area every fiscal year. Each public housing agency then adopts its own payment standard, normally between 90% and 110% of that Fair Market Rent, and that standard, together with the household's adjusted income and the agency's rent reasonableness review, determines the housing assistance payment on a given unit. Because agencies set standards independently, two counties with similar Fair Market Rents can support different contract rents.

For financing, the rent a lender counts is the rent supported by the lease and the appraiser's market rent analysis, not the voucher maximum. Voucher rentals are held as investment property, so they are financed with business-purpose loans rather than consumer mortgages. Every figure on these county pages is an estimate for planning; binding terms appear only in a written loan estimate or agency determination.

Illinois Section 8 rental loan questions

Answers to the most common illinois section 8 rental loan questions, written by licensed loan officers.

HUD publishes FY2026 Fair Market Rents and FY2026 Section 8 income limits for 102 county areas in Illinois. Each one has its own page here with bedroom-by-bedroom rents, income limits by household size, and payment standard math.

Live mortgage market data

The U.S. mortgage market at a glance

Real published numbers from Freddie Mac, the Federal Reserve (FRED), FHFA, HUD, and the VA — refreshed quarterly so the math you run here matches the math your loan officer runs. Hover any data point for the exact value.

Data last reviewed: November 2026

30-Year Fixed Rate (annual avg)

Mortgage rates, 2019 → 2026

% APR
8%6%4%2%0%20192019: 3.94%20202020: 3.11%20212021: 2.96%20222022: 5.34%20232023: 6.81%20242024: 6.72%20252025: 6.55%2026*2026*: 6.25%

Source: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS). Current-year figure is the year-to-date average; PMMS is updated weekly.

Median U.S. home sales price

Home prices, 2019 → 2025

$ thousands
500K375K250K125K0K20192019: 313K20202020: 329K20212021: 405K20222022: 442K20232023: 431K20242024: 420K20252025: 416K

Source: U.S. Census Bureau & HUD via FRED — Median Sales Price of Houses Sold (MSPUS). Quarterly, seasonally adjusted.

2026 Loan Limits

Maximum loan amounts by program

All limits are the 2026 federally published figures for a one-unit primary residence in most counties. High-cost counties (Honolulu, Bay Area, NYC metro, FL Keys, ski-resort CO, etc.) have higher caps.

Program2026 LimitOfficial Source
Conforming (Fannie/Freddie)$832,750FHFA 2026 baseline →
FHA (most counties)$541,287HUD 2026 floor →
FHA (high-cost counties)$1,249,125HUD 2026 ceiling →
VA (full entitlement)No statutory limitVA Lender Handbook →
USDA GuaranteedBased on borrower incomeUSDA Rural Development →

Verify everything

Official government & regulator sources

Every rate, limit, and guideline cited on this page traces back to a federal source. Click any agency to verify directly.

.govOfficial source

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Federal regulator and unbiased homebuyer education ("Owning a Home").

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.govOfficial source

HUD — FHA Single-Family Lender

Official FHA program guidelines, loan limits, and lender requirements.

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.govOfficial source

VA Home Loan Benefits

Eligibility, COE, funding fee, and VA loan program details.

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.govOfficial source

USDA Rural Development

USDA-eligible area maps and Single-Family Housing program guidelines.

Visit official site →
.govOfficial source

FHFA Conforming Loan Limits

Annual Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac conforming loan limits by county.

Visit official site →
.govOfficial source

Freddie Mac PMMS

Primary Mortgage Market Survey — weekly 30-year fixed-rate benchmark.

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.govOfficial source

NMLS Consumer Access

Verify any mortgage company or loan officer's license, including Simply Approved (NMLS# 2620881).

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.govOfficial source

IRS — Home Mortgage Interest

Publication 936: deduction rules for home mortgage interest.

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Trusted government resources

These independent government resources can help you research mortgage programs, rates, and your rights before you apply.

Simply Approved Mortgages is not affiliated with HUD, the CFPB, the FTC, the VA, or any other government agency. Links are provided for your independent verification.

Explore the full guide

Keep reading — the rest of the buying playbook

Each of these is a deep-dive on one piece of the purchase mortgage process. Bookmark whichever you need next.

Guide

Section 8 Rental Property Loans

The national guide to voucher rental financing.

Read the guide →

Guide

DSCR Loans

The loan type most often used on voucher rentals.

Read the guide →

Guide

DSCR Calculator

Run coverage on the rent your lender counts.

Read the guide →

Guide

Rental Income Qualifying

How programs document rent.

Read the guide →

Educational information only — no solicitation

We are not soliciting mortgage business in Illinois

Simply Approved Mortgages arranges consumer residential mortgages in Florida and Colorado only. We cannot price or accept a residential application for a property in another state. This page is published for general education and research. It is not an advertisement for credit, an invitation to apply, an offer, or a commitment to lend in Illinois, and we are not accepting applications or inquiries for property in this state.

If your property is in Florida or Colorado, you can read our Florida or Colorado mortgage guides. Otherwise, the CFPB home-buying resources and NMLS Consumer Access can help you find a lender licensed where you live.

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Broker identification. Simply Approved Mortgages LLC is a mortgage broker and is not a direct lender. We arrange residential mortgage loans with third-party wholesale lenders and do not make the lender's final credit decision or fund the loan. We arrange residential mortgage loans in Florida and Colorado. Business-purpose mortgage products may be arranged in additional states only where permitted by applicable law and pursuant to applicable licensing requirements or exemptions.

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