Chicago Low-Income Housing Trust Fund

Legal name: Chicago Low Income Housing Trust Fund

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
363718992
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
312-741-1912
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Housing Development, Construction, Management

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$25,515,409
Expenses
$30,257,521
Assets
$75,458,088
Liabilities
$6,324,988

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ANNISSA LAMBIRTH-GARRETT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • MONICA WATSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • FATMAH FARRAJ (PRESIDENT, DIRECTOR)
  • SAMUEL PALER-PONCE (VICE PRESIDENT,DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ANNISSA LAMBIRTH-GARRETT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $141,455 total reported compensation
  • MONICA WATSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $75,243 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To provide rental subsidies to low-income households in Chicago, ensuring housing stability and preventing homelessness.

What it reported doing in 2024

Non-interest, forgivable loans to developers of multi-unit rent buildings constructed or rehabilitated for affordable housing

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 83% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 89% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 99
  • Transparency & Controls: 67
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 97.9%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: $441.93 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 76.3%; rating input score 76; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -18.6%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.49; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.7%; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 97.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $29.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $141K · 15 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 24 of 25 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.