Rental Property Rules in Illinois (2026)
54 rules on the books across Illinois, 31 cities and counties. Select a rule to read the full details.
Severity: Few Restrictions · Light Restrictions · Some Restrictions · Significant Restrictions · Heavy Restrictions
Rent Control
Local limits on how much landlords can raise rent each year, including which properties are covered and exemptions for newer buildings.
Illinois: statewide
StatewideFew RestrictionsIllinois has no statewide rent control and no cap on rent increases. The Rent Control Preemption Act, 50 ILCS 825, bars…
Read full rule →Champaign County
Few RestrictionsRent control is illegal everywhere in Champaign County. The Illinois Rent Control Preemption Act (50 ILCS 825) bars…
Read full rule →Peoria County
Few RestrictionsRent control is illegal everywhere in Peoria County. The Illinois Rent Control Preemption Act (50 ILCS 825) bars every…
Read full rule →Rental Registration
Requirements for landlords to register rental properties with the city, including inspection programs, fees, and occupancy standards.
Aurora
Significant RestrictionsLandlords in Aurora, Illinois (Kane County) must obtain a city license before renting out any non-owner-occupied unit…
Read full rule →Bolingbrook
Significant RestrictionsBolingbrook requires anyone renting out a dwelling unit to hold an annual landlord license from the village police…
Read full rule →Champaign
Significant RestrictionsEvery residential rental structure in Champaign, including short-term rentals, must register with the Neighborhood…
Read full rule →Elgin
Significant RestrictionsElgin requires a license for every rental residential property, including units listed on Airbnb or VRBO, before an…
Read full rule →Joliet
Significant RestrictionsJoliet requires every owner of a rental dwelling unit, including single-family rentals, duplexes, apartments, boarding…
Read full rule →Oak Lawn
Significant RestrictionsOak Lawn requires owners of non-owner occupied rental homes, apartments, condos, and duplexes to obtain an annual…
Read full rule →Peoria
Significant RestrictionsEvery owner of an occupied or vacant dwelling in Peoria must file an annual registration statement with the city under…
Read full rule →Rockford
Significant RestrictionsRockford requires every owner of a residential rental property to register contact information online with the city's…
Read full rule →Tinley Park
Significant RestrictionsTinley Park requires every residential rental unit, rooming house or rooming unit to carry a current residential rental…
Read full rule →Waukegan
Significant RestrictionsEvery owner of rental housing in Waukegan, even a two-unit building where the owner lives, must be licensed by the…
Read full rule →Cook County
Some RestrictionsCook County passed a Rental Dwelling Ordinance on June 29, 2016, establishing rental property registration and…
Read full rule →Evanston
Some RestrictionsOwners must file a registration statement with the Health and Human Services Department before renting any dwelling…
Read full rule →Kane County
Some RestrictionsEvery short-term rental in unincorporated Kane County must be registered annually with the Development and Community…
Read full rule →Oak Park
Some RestrictionsEvery rental dwelling unit, rooming house or rooming unit in the Village of Oak Park, Cook County, Illinois must carry…
Read full rule →Schaumburg
Some RestrictionsAnyone renting residential, nonresidential, or short-term property in Schaumburg must first obtain a rental license…
Read full rule →Skokie
Some RestrictionsEvery owner of a residential rental unit in Skokie must register each unit with the Village before renting it, under…
Read full rule →Security Deposit Rules
Caps on how much landlords may collect as security deposits, return deadlines, itemized-deduction requirements, and tenant remedies for wrongfully withheld deposits.
Rent Increase Notice
How much advance written notice a landlord must give before raising the rent on a month-to-month or expiring lease, and how state notice rules differ from any local rent-control caps.
Repairs & Habitability
The implied warranty of habitability, how long a landlord has to fix essential services (heat, water, plumbing, mold), and tenant remedies such as repair-and-deduct, rent withholding, or breaking the lease.
Illinois: statewide
StatewideSome RestrictionsIllinois recognizes an implied warranty of habitability in every residential lease through case law, not a single…
Read full rule →Chicago
Significant RestrictionsChicago landlords must keep rental units code-compliant and fit to live in, or tenants can withhold rent, repair and…
Read full rule →Cicero
Significant RestrictionsCicero's Minimum Housing Code requires every rental dwelling unit to have a working kitchen sink, private bathroom with…
Read full rule →Cook County
Significant RestrictionsCook County Code § 38-255 makes it every landlord's duty to keep rental housing free of lead hazards, with mandatory…
Read full rule →Joliet
Significant RestrictionsJoliet defines a 22-point list of conditions that make a rental dwelling 'substandard,' from inadequate sanitation and…
Read full rule →Oak Lawn
Significant RestrictionsOak Lawn adopts the 2018 International Property Maintenance Code as the controlling habitability standard for every…
Read full rule →Arlington Heights
Some RestrictionsArlington Heights enforces the 2018 International Property Maintenance Code with local edits under Chapter 26…
Read full rule →Aurora
Some RestrictionsAurora requires tightly fitting insect screens of at least 16 mesh per inch on doors, windows, and other ventilation…
Read full rule →Bolingbrook
Some RestrictionsBolingbrook requires landlords to supply heat maintaining at least 68 degrees in habitable rooms, bathrooms and toilet…
Read full rule →Champaign
Some RestrictionsChampaign landlords who agree to furnish heat must supply it from October 1 through May 15 and keep every habitable…
Read full rule →Champaign County
Some RestrictionsChampaign County treats an occupied rental unit as a public nuisance TYPE 5 dangerous structure when it lacks safe…
Read full rule →DuPage County
Some RestrictionsUnincorporated DuPage County rentals must meet the adopted Property Maintenance Code: 68°F minimum heat in habitable…
Read full rule →Elgin
Some RestrictionsElgin landlords who agree to furnish heat must maintain at least 65 degrees Fahrenheit in habitable rooms, bathrooms…
Read full rule →Evanston
Some RestrictionsEvanston's Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance requires every housing provider to keep rental premises in…
Read full rule →Lake County
Some RestrictionsLake County's public nuisance ordinance makes it illegal to rent housing the Health Officer finds unfit for habitation…
Read full rule →Macon County
Some RestrictionsUnincorporated Macon County makes rental property, mobile home park, and apartment building owners responsible for…
Read full rule →Naperville
Some RestrictionsNaperville caps how many people can occupy a dwelling under the amended 2024 IPMC, tying minimum room-by-room square…
Read full rule →Oak Park
Some RestrictionsOak Park landlords must supply heat to rental units from September 15 through May 15, keeping habitable rooms at 68F by…
Read full rule →Peoria
Some RestrictionsPeoria tenants harmed by a code violation can force the landlord's hand: once the code official has inspected and…
Read full rule →Rock Island County
Some RestrictionsRock Island County's amended International Property Maintenance Code requires heat in every dwelling from October 1…
Read full rule →Rockford
Some RestrictionsRockford adopts the 2015 International Property Maintenance Code by reference, setting the minimum habitability…
Read full rule →Schaumburg
Some RestrictionsSchaumburg adopted the 2021 International Property Maintenance Code and then rewrote several of its habitability…
Read full rule →Skokie
Some RestrictionsSkokie enforces habitability through its adopted 2021 International Property Maintenance Code, requiring windows, doors…
Read full rule →Springfield
Some RestrictionsSpringfield's Property Maintenance Code amendment requires owners to supply heat to occupied dwellings from October 15…
Read full rule →St. Clair County
Some RestrictionsProperty Maintenance Code Section 29-5-3 requires every dwelling unit in unincorporated St. Clair County to have its…
Read full rule →Tazewell County
Some RestrictionsTazewell County's Human Habitation chapter sets baseline conditions for rental dwellings in the unincorporated area…
Read full rule →Tinley Park
Some RestrictionsTinley Park adopts the International Property Maintenance Code and amends it to require landlords to heat rented…
Read full rule →Waukegan
Some RestrictionsWaukegan's Property Maintenance and Housing Code, adopted at City Code § 6-176, sets the minimum habitability floor for…
Read full rule →Will County
Some RestrictionsIn unincorporated Will County, landlords must heat rental units to 68°F from September 15 through April 30 under the…
Read full rule →Winnebago County
Some RestrictionsCounty code requires every dwelling unit to have working hot and cold running water, a toilet, and a kitchen sink, and…
Read full rule →Lease Termination & Notice to Vacate
Notice required to end a month-to-month tenancy, the rules and penalties for breaking a fixed-term lease early, and early-termination protections for active-duty military, domestic-violence survivors, and medical hardships.
Eviction Notice & Process
The notice a landlord must give before filing to evict, pay-or-quit and cure-or-quit periods, no-cause termination notice, how long the court eviction process takes in this state, and the tenant's options to respond or cure.
Squatter's Rights & Adverse Possession
When an occupant without a lease gains legal protections, the line between a trespasser and a squatter, how many years of continuous possession adverse possession requires in this state, and how an owner lawfully removes a squatter.