Illinois residential lease agreement

State form

• Since January 1, 2026, the Illinois Summary of Rights for Safer Homes Act requires landlords to give every residential tenant a summary of rights as the first page of the written lease, whether new or a renewal.¹
• The Illinois Department of Human Rights publishes the Summary of Rights for Safer Homes as a download and states that it is required for all residential leases in Illinois, new or renewed.¹
• The Illinois Attorney General advises tenants to ask for a written lease to avoid later misunderstandings with the landlord.²

Signing

• An Illinois landlord attaches the Safer Homes summary as the first page of the lease and has each tenant sign the acknowledgment of receipt at the bottom of every page of it.¹
• The Illinois Safer Homes summary runs four pages, with signature lines on each for the first two tenants; further tenants sign below or alongside them.¹

Deadlines

• An Illinois landlord ending a month-to-month tenancy owes the tenant a 30-day written notice, and a year-to-year lease takes a 60-day written notice.²
• The Illinois Attorney General tells tenants that a 30-day written notice before moving is normally enough to protect the deposit, unless the lease requires a longer period.²
• In an Illinois building or complex of five or more units, the Security Deposit Return Act gives the landlord 45 days after move-out to return the full deposit when no rent is owed and the unit was left clean and undamaged.²
• An Illinois landlord who keeps any part of the deposit gives the tenant an itemized statement of damages, with paid receipts, within 30 days of move-out.²
• An Illinois eviction notice for unpaid rent gives the tenant five days to pay, and a notice for another lease violation gives 10 days.²
• An Illinois landlord may raise rent on a periodic tenancy with seven days’ notice week to week or 30 days’ notice month to month, but not during a fixed-term lease.²
• An Illinois tenant ending a lease early under the Safe Homes Act gives the landlord written notice before or within three days of permanently leaving.⁴

Where it is filed

• An Illinois landlord has to file a lawsuit to evict a tenant and may not force a move by cutting utilities, changing the locks or removing the tenant’s belongings.²
• The Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice approved statewide notices of termination for unpaid rent and for lease violations, plus a notice of non-renewal, and every Illinois court must accept them.⁵
• A tenant who loses an Illinois eviction case may appeal within 30 days after the trial, and only a sheriff can physically remove the tenant.²

Taxes and fees

• Illinois sets no legal cap on a security deposit; the Attorney General notes that it normally equals one month’s rent.²
• An Illinois landlord with 25 or more units pays interest on a deposit held six months or more, in cash or as a rent credit, within 30 days after each 12-month rental period.³
• The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation reported that The Northern Trust Company, Chicago, the reference bank under the Security Deposit Interest Act, paid 0.005 percent on minimum deposit savings accounts on December 31, 2025, the rate for leases starting in 2026.³
• An Illinois landlord found by a court to have broken the security deposit law can owe twice the deposit, plus court costs and attorney’s fees.²

Law

• An Illinois landlord proven to have skipped the Safer Homes summary owes the greater of the tenant’s actual damages, up to $2,000, or $100.¹
• Illinois has no statewide rent control law, and the Attorney General sends tenants to their city or county to check for a local ordinance.²
• The Illinois Retaliatory Eviction Act bars a landlord from evicting a tenant for complaining to a government authority such as a housing inspector.²
• Under the Illinois Rental Property Utility Service Act, a tenant may pay a utility bill the landlord was legally responsible for and deduct it from the rent.²
• Under the Illinois Safe Homes Act, a landlord told in writing of an imminent threat of domestic or sexual violence changes the locks, or lets the tenant change them, within 48 hours, at the tenant’s reasonable expense.⁴

• Property address and what is included (parking, storage, appliances)
• Start date, end date or month-to-month term
• Monthly rent, due date and security deposit amount
• Rules on pets, smoking, repairs and utilities

It is not a roommate agreement between tenants, and it is not a commercial lease for a store or office.