Oak Park, IL Building Safety: Lead Paint (2026)

Village Code Section 12-6-10(E), part of the Residential Tenant and Landlord Ordinance in Chapter 12, Article 6, adopted by Ordinance 21-60 on July 19, 2021, imposes a distinct landlord obligation to disclose lead hazards. S. Environmental Protection Agency federal pamphlet on lead-based paint disclosure, and to disclose any known lead hazards. This local duty sits on top of, and cross-references, federal lead-based paint disclosure law rather than restating it, folding the pamphlet requirement into the Village's own tenant rights and remedies structure. 2 gives tenants a direct financial remedy: if the landlord fails to comply with Section 12-6-10(E) after receiving written notice, the tenant is entitled to recover one month's rent or actual damages, whichever is greater, plus reasonable attorney's fees, in a civil action against the landlord.

This mirrors the remedy structure used elsewhere in the same ordinance for other disclosure failures, such as the code-violation and utility-termination disclosures in Section 12-6-10(C), showing lead disclosure is treated as a core habitability-adjacent duty rather than a minor formality. The obligation applies to any landlord covered by the Residential Tenant and Landlord Ordinance, which governs rental agreements for dwelling units located within the Village of Oak Park, including subsidized units operated through the Oak Park Housing Authority, the Housing Authority of Cook County, or the Illinois Housing Development Authority.