Rufus Reed, 60, has owned rental properties in Chicago since 1998. Among his seven units on the South and West sides, he’s had to evict 15 to 20 tenants, never once being able to recoup the lost rent. But that changed in May, when Reed was matched with a legal aid attorney and learned he could collect roughly $6,750 in federal rental assistance, enough to cover losses tied to a tenant who had stopped paying rent in October and ultimately had to leave. “I was excited to hear about being able to get paid for those seven months — the past five months and two future months (of rent).