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Illinois

Illinois Landlord-Tenant Laws

Security deposit limits, eviction notices, rent control, and more for Illinois.

How we research these summaries

Every rule on this page is drawn from state statutes and municipal codes and summarized with AI assistance. Each one cites the statute it's based on and links to a published text of that law so you can read it firsthand. Where a page says a city or county has no local rule on a topic, that means none was found for the topics covered here — not that none exists. Local governments also regulate rental housing in ways these pages don't track, including registration, licensing, inspections and habitability standards. These summaries may be incomplete or out of date, laws change often, and every property and tenancy has specifics a summary can't capture — so treat this as a starting point for your own research, not as legal advice, and check with the local jurisdiction and a qualified attorney before acting on your particular situation.

What to Know in Illinois

Sources last checked July 2026

Illinois sets no cap on a security deposit’s amount, but a landlord withholding any part must itemize the damage within 30 days of move-out, or return the deposit in full within 45 days absent a statement, under 765 ILCS 710/1 — a duty that, since Public Act 103-224 took effect January 1, 2024, covers every rental regardless of building size, not just buildings of five or more units as before. A 1997 preemption statute, 50 ILCS 825/5, bars any Illinois locality from capping a rent increase, though Chicago and Cook County layer their own stricter eviction-notice and deposit rules on top.

  • 5-day notice required before eviction for nonpayment of rent
  • 30-day move-out notice required for month-to-month tenancies
  • No rent control — no statutory cap on rent increases
  • Illinois has no statute that directly sets a notice period for a rent increase.
  • No statutory cap on the security deposit amount
5 rules summarized · Each linked to the law it cites

Security Deposit Limits

Security Deposit Limits

What is the security deposit limit in Illinois?

Illinois sets no statutory maximum on the amount of a residential security deposit; it regulates the return instead. A landlord who withholds any part of a deposit must furnish the tenant an itemized statement of the damage, with the estimated or actual cost of repair, within 30 days of the date the tenant vacates (765 ILCS 710/1), and where estimates were given, paid receipts must follow within 30 days of that statement. A landlord who furnishes no statement at all must return the deposit in full within 45 days of the date the tenant vacated. A landlord who refuses in bad faith is liable for twice the amount of the deposit due, together with court costs and reasonable attorney's fees. Note that this Act formerly applied only to buildings with five or more units: Public Act 103-224 removed that threshold effective January 1, 2024, so it now covers every residential rental in Illinois regardless of building size, and older summaries still repeating the five-unit limit are out of date. A separate statute, the Security Deposit Interest Act (765 ILCS 715/1), governs interest on deposits held more than six months and does still apply only to buildings with 25 or more units. Local ordinances can be stricter than the state: suburban Cook County caps deposits at 1.5 times monthly rent under its own Residential Tenant Landlord Ordinance, while the City of Chicago, which has a separate ordinance, sets no cap.

765 ILCS 710/1; 765 ILCS 715/1

Eviction Notice Requirements

Eviction Notice Requirements

What are the eviction notice requirements in Illinois?

For nonpayment of rent an Illinois landlord must notify the tenant in writing that unless payment is made within a time stated in the notice, not less than 5 days after service, the lease will be terminated (735 ILCS 5/9-209). For a default in any other term of the lease, it is not necessary to give more than 10 days' notice to quit (735 ILCS 5/9-210). Eviction proceeds through the courts, and local ordinances in Chicago and in suburban Cook County add further requirements for the properties they cover.

735 ILCS 5/9-209; 735 ILCS 5/9-210

Rent Increase Notice Periods

Rent Increase Notice Periods

How much notice is required for rent increases in Illinois?

Illinois has no statute that directly sets a notice period for a rent increase. The customary figure comes by analogy from the tenancy-termination periods in 735 ILCS 5/9-207: a landlord may terminate a tenancy of any term less than one year other than week-to-week — which includes month-to-month — on 30 days' written notice, and a week-to-week tenancy on 7 days' written notice. Because raising rent on a periodic tenancy requires ending the existing terms and offering new ones, those periods are treated as the operative notice for an increase. This is an inference from the termination statute, not a statutory rent-increase rule. Chicago is stricter under its Fair Notice Ordinance, which scales notice to how long the tenant has lived in the unit: 30 days under six months, 60 days from six months to three years, and 120 days after three years. A flat 30-day assumption is therefore wrong for any Chicago tenant who has lived in the unit more than six months.

735 ILCS 5/9-207 (by analogy — Illinois has no rent-increase notice statute)

Rent Control / Rent Increase Caps

Rent Control / Rent Increase Caps

Is there rent control in Illinois?

Illinois preempts local rent control: a unit of local government may not enact, maintain, or enforce an ordinance or resolution that would have the effect of controlling the amount of rent charged for leasing private residential or commercial property (50 ILCS 825/5). The Act took effect August 1, 1997 and remains in force. Repeal measures have been introduced in recent sessions, including SB1260, but none has passed and they remain in committee. There is accordingly no statutory ceiling on the size of a rent increase anywhere in Illinois.

50 ILCS 825/5 (Rent Control Preemption Act)

Move-Out & Lease Termination Notice

Move-Out & Lease Termination Notice

What is the move-out notice requirement in Illinois?

Either party may end a periodic tenancy in Illinois on written notice: 30 days for a tenancy of any term less than one year other than week-to-week, which includes month-to-month, and 7 days for a week-to-week tenancy (735 ILCS 5/9-207). A lease for a fixed term expires at the end of that term. Chicago is stricter under its Fair Notice Ordinance, which scales notice to how long the tenant has lived in the unit: 30 days under six months, 60 days from six months to three years, and 120 days after three years. A Chicago landlord ending a long tenancy therefore needs substantially more notice than the state minimum.

735 ILCS 5/9-207

Local Jurisdictions with Additional Rules

Cook County County Chicago City

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