Illinois Residential Lease Agreement
Illinois isn't one statewide lease story — the Landlord and Tenant Act sets the baseline (deposit-return windows for 5+ unit buildings, the mandatory FEMA flood disclosure, the EFT-payment alternative, the Cook County rekey rule, and — new for 2026 — the IDHR "Summary of Rights for Safer Homes" that must be the first page of every lease), but the City of Chicago Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance (RLTO) and the Cook County Residential Tenant and Landlord Ordinance (RTLO) change what the lease must contain when they apply. BuildMyLease bakes in the state-level rules for every Illinois lease, attaches the 2026 Safer Homes summary automatically, and exposes scope toggles for the RLTO and Cook County RTLO so the right city/county-specific clauses appear when (and only when) they should.
$29.00 per generated document.
What every Illinois lease must include
Standard lease elements
- Parties and the Illinois county + street address of the rental.
- Lease term — fixed end date or a periodic (month-to-month or year-to-year) tenancy.
- Monthly rent amount, due date, and accepted payment methods (with the EFT-only-prohibition language).
- Security deposit amount, with state-law conditional callouts for 5+ unit and 25+ unit buildings.
- Utilities — which the landlord covers and which the tenant pays.
- Occupancy rules, pets, smoking, and entry procedures.
- Default, Notice-to-Quit tiers, and termination language permitted under state law.
- Mandatory flood-hazard disclosure block (765 ILCS 705/25).
- Signatures of all parties.
Illinois-required disclosures
- Federal lead-paint disclosure and EPA pamphlet for any unit built before 1978. (42 U.S.C. § 4852d; 24 C.F.R. Part 35)
- Mandatory flood-hazard disclosure — verbatim statutory language stating whether the property is in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area and whether the landlord knows of flooding history. Effective 2025-01-01. (765 ILCS 705/25 (P.A. 103-754))
- IDHR "Summary of Rights for Safer Homes" — the state-published summary must be attached as the first page of every written residential lease, new or renewal, and each tenant acknowledges receipt. Effective 2026-01-01; BuildMyLease prepends the current IDHR form automatically. (765 ILCS 752 (P.A. 103-1031))
- Liability-waiver-void disclosure — any provision purporting to waive landlord negligence liability is void as against public policy. (765 ILCS 705/1)
- Implied warranty of habitability — non-waivable; landlord must maintain unit in fit and habitable condition. (Pole Realty Co. v. Sorrells (Ill. 1981))
- Statewide rent-control preemption — no Illinois municipality may regulate the rent a private landlord may charge. (50 ILCS 825/5)
Illinois-specific workflow
- 5+ unit buildings: itemized return within 30 days OR full return within 45 days; missing the 30-day window forfeits any retention. 765 ILCS 710/1.
- 25+ unit buildings: deposit interest required when held > 6 months, at the largest IL bank's passbook savings rate. 765 ILCS 715/1.
- Cook County rentals: landlord must rekey or replace the lock before each new tenant. 765 ILCS 705/15.
- Chicago RLTO scope: when the rental is subject to the RLTO, an ordinance summary attaches to the lease, day-1 deposit interest applies, and statutory damages of 2 months' rent attach to deposit violations.
- Cook County RTLO scope: when the rental is subject to the RTLO, the deposit is capped at 1.5× monthly rent and 48 hours' entry notice is required.
- Late fees: no statewide cap (reasonableness standard); the Chicago RLTO caps them at $10/month on the first $500 of rent plus 5% of the amount over $500 (§ 5-12-140); the Cook County RTLO at $10/month on the first $1,000 plus 5% of the excess.
- EFT-only payment is prohibited statewide; tenants must always have a paper-check or cash alternative. 765 ILCS 705/4.
- Service members: lease may be terminated on 30 days' notice with copy of military orders. 765 ILCS 705/16.
Cook County & Chicago lease rules (2026)
City and county ordinances that add to Illinois law — and what the lease does about them.
Where the unit sits decides which rulebook applies. Inside the City of Chicago it is the Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance (RLTO, Municipal Code ch. 5-12). In suburban and unincorporated Cook County it is the county Residential Tenant and Landlord Ordinance (RTLO, effective June 1, 2021) — Chicago, Evanston and Mount Prospect are carved out and run their own rules. Everywhere else in Illinois, state law alone governs. A 2026 Cook County lease has to get all three layers right, and the free REALTOR®-association forms only cover the one they were drafted for.
City of Chicago — RLTO
Most Chicago rentals. Owner-occupied buildings of six units or fewer are exempt from most of the ordinance (§ 5-12-020).
- Attach the City's RLTO summary and the current security-deposit interest-rate summary to every covered lease and renewal. (Chi. Mun. Code § 5-12-170)
- Hold any deposit in a separate interest-bearing Illinois account, give a written receipt, and pay interest annually — the 2026 rate set by the Comptroller is 0.01%. Violations carry damages of two months' rent plus attorney fees. (§ 5-12-080)
- Late fees are capped at $10/month on the first $500 of rent plus 5% of the amount over $500. (§ 5-12-140)
- Fair Notice: 30 / 60 / 120 days' written notice before non-renewal, termination or any rent increase, depending on whether the tenancy is under 6 months, 6 months to 3 years, or over 3 years. (§ 5-12-130)
- Two days' notice before non-emergency entry; disclosure of the owner or agent and of any pending code violations before signing. (§§ 5-12-050, 5-12-100)
Suburban Cook County — RTLO
Rentals in unincorporated Cook County and its municipalities except Chicago, Evanston and Mount Prospect. Owner-occupied buildings of six units or fewer and certain single-family rentals are exempt.
- Security deposit capped at 1.5× one month's rent (the portion above one month may be paid over six months); deposit held in an Illinois financial institution named in the lease; returned within 30 days with an itemized statement. (Cook County Code ch. 42, art. II)
- Attach the County's RTLO summary to every lease and renewal; a landlord who forgets has two business days to cure once the tenant raises it. (Cook County Code ch. 42, art. II)
- Late fees capped at $10/month on the first $1,000 of rent plus 5% of the amount over $1,000; move-in fees must be itemized. (Cook County Code ch. 42, art. II)
- Two days' notice before non-emergency entry; lockouts and other self-help remedies prohibited. (Cook County Code ch. 42, art. II (Sec. 42-813))
Everywhere in Illinois — the state floor
Every residential lease in the state, inside or outside Cook County, on top of any local ordinance.
- IDHR "Summary of Rights for Safer Homes" as the first page of every written lease, new or renewal, from January 1, 2026. (765 ILCS 752)
- Verbatim FEMA flood-hazard disclosure in every lease. (765 ILCS 705/25)
- Cook County rentals: rekey or replace the locks before each new tenant. (765 ILCS 705/15)
- No EFT-only rent payment; 5+ unit buildings return deposits in 30/45 days; 25+ unit buildings pay deposit interest. (765 ILCS 705/4; 710/1; 715/1)
In the wizard you answer three questions — is the property in Cook County, is it subject to the Chicago RLTO, is it subject to the Cook County RTLO — and the lease prints the matching clauses, validates the 1.5× deposit cap, attaches the RLTO summary language, and prepends the 2026 IDHR Safer Homes summary. Nothing city- or county-specific appears where it does not apply.
How the Illinois lease is structured
- The document opens with parties, the Illinois county, and the rental-property address.
- The property-location subphase asks whether the property is in Cook County, subject to the Chicago RLTO, and subject to the Cook County RTLO — driving the conditional clauses below.
- The term section identifies the arrangement as fixed-term with an end date or as a periodic tenancy with the 30-day auto-renewal notice floor.
- The rent section sets the monthly amount, due date, accepted payment methods (with the statewide EFT-only prohibition), and surfaces the RLTO late-fee cap and reasonableness standard.
- The security-deposit section captures the deposit amount, surfaces the 5+ unit return-window and 25+ unit interest callouts, and (when applicable) the Chicago RLTO day-1 interest rule and Cook County 1.5× cap.
- A mandatory flood-hazard disclosure subphase captures FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area awareness, flooding-history knowledge, lower-level-unit status, and prints the verbatim § 705/25(d) disclosure into the lease.
- The document closes with the warranty of habitability, quiet-enjoyment, liability-waiver-void, EFT-alternative, service-member-termination, Class X felony termination, and (when applicable) the Chicago RLTO summary-attachment, RLTO deposit-handling, Cook RTLO informational, and Cook County rekey clauses — followed by signatures.
BuildMyLease assembles all of this for you in a guided interview.
Free Illinois lease template vs BuildMyLease
Free Illinois lease templates exist, but most predate the 2025 mandatory flood disclosure and the 2026 Safer Homes attachment, skip the Chicago RLTO summary attachment entirely, and do not surface the 5+ unit / 25+ unit deposit thresholds. Here is the honest side-by-side.
| Free template | BuildMyLease | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 IDHR Safer Homes summary (765 ILCS 752) | Absent from every pre-2026 template and from most 2026 forms, which leave the landlord to find, print and staple the current IDHR PDF as page 1 — and to repeat it at every renewal. | The current IDHR-published summary is prepended to every Illinois lease PDF automatically, with the tenant acknowledgment lines the form carries. |
| Mandatory flood disclosure (765 ILCS 705/25) | Most pre-2025 templates omit the verbatim disclosure entirely. A landlord using such a template exposes themselves to lease termination + damages claims. | Mandatory subphase in the flow; verbatim § 705/25(d) clause printed in every IL lease with substituted answers. |
| Chicago RLTO summary attachment | Almost universally absent. A lease subject to the RLTO without the attached summary is defective under § 5-12-170 and exposes the landlord to a $100 + attorney-fee penalty. | Toggle in the property-location subphase; when subject to RLTO, the summary attachment clause renders automatically. |
| Unit-count-conditional deposit rules | Treat all IL rentals identically. A 6-unit building landlord using a generic template misses the 30/45-day return-window structure. | property_unit_count drives the 5+ and 25+ unit conditional callouts and clause language. |
| Cook County RTLO 1.5× cap | Treats all IL rentals identically; landlords in unincorporated Cook County miss the deposit cap. | Toggle drives an error-severity validation when the deposit exceeds 1.5× monthly rent. |
| Cost | $0. | $29 per document. |
Who this is for
This is for
- Illinois landlords managing 1–25 private-market units (single-family, condo, small multi-family).
- Owners who want the mandatory flood disclosure, EFT-alternative, and statutory rekey language built in.
- Landlords issuing a new fixed-term lease OR a periodic tenancy with the 30-day auto-renewal notice floor.
- Chicago landlords subject to the RLTO who want the summary attachment + day-1 interest + statutory-damages language baked in.
- Cook County landlords subject to the RTLO who want the 1.5× deposit cap validated at /review.
This isn't for
- 55+ senior housing subject to the heating/cooling temperature standards under § 705/20 (separate document type required).
- Section 8 / federally subsidized tenancies — those carry separate HAP-contract requirements.
- Manufactured-home-park tenancies (separate IL statutory regime).
- Co-op or condo sublease arrangements with separate board-approval workflows.
- Ongoing eviction or holdover proceedings — those require court forms (Forcible Entry & Detainer), not a lease.
- Commercial leases.
Recent Illinois guides
Plain-language explainers of the laws this lease is built around.
GuideFirst-time landlord guide
Step-by-step operating sequence: prepare unit → screen tenants → sign lease → collect funds → document move-in.
Frequently asked questions
Is rent control allowed in Illinois?
No. 50 ILCS 825/5 preempts any unit of local government in Illinois — including Chicago — from regulating the amount of rent a private landlord may charge for residential property.
Does Illinois require a written flood-hazard disclosure in leases?
Yes. Effective January 1, 2025 (P.A. 103-754), 765 ILCS 705/25 requires every Illinois residential lease to disclose, in verbatim statutory language, whether the property is in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area and whether the landlord knows of any flooding history. Lower-level units (garden, basement, first-floor) require an additional 10-year history disclosure. Failure to disclose entitles the tenant to terminate the lease and recover prepaid rent.
How long does an Illinois landlord have to return a security deposit?
For buildings with 5 or more units, the landlord must either (a) return the deposit in full within 45 days, or (b) provide a written, itemized statement of damages within 30 days, retaining only the documented amount. Missing the 30-day deadline forfeits the right to retain any portion. For buildings with fewer than 5 units, state law sets no specific deadline and the parties' agreement governs. 765 ILCS 710/1.
Do Illinois landlords have to pay interest on security deposits?
Only landlords of buildings with 25 or more units must pay interest, and only on deposits held longer than six months. The rate is the largest Illinois bank's minimum passbook savings rate as of December 31 of the prior year. Chicago and Cook County have additional or different interest requirements. 765 ILCS 715/1.
Is there a Cook County lease agreement for 2026?
Yes — this one. A 2026 Cook County lease has to satisfy three layers at once: Illinois law (including the new IDHR Safer Homes summary as page 1), the Cook County RTLO outside Chicago (1.5× deposit cap, 30-day return, RTLO summary attached, $10 + 5%-over-$1,000 late-fee cap), or the Chicago RLTO inside the city (RLTO summary and interest-rate attachment, 2026 interest at 0.01%, $10 + 5%-over-$500 late-fee cap, 30/60/120-day Fair Notice). BuildMyLease asks where the property sits and prints only the layer that applies, then prepends the Safer Homes summary automatically. $29, signed-ready PDF.
What changed for Chicago and Cook County leases in 2026?
The big one is statewide: from January 1, 2026, 765 ILCS 752 requires the IDHR "Summary of Rights for Safer Homes" to be the first page of every written residential lease, new or renewal, with a tenant acknowledgment — a landlord who omits it owes at least $100 plus attorney fees. Chicago's 2026 security-deposit interest rate is 0.01% (unchanged), and the Fair Notice tiers (30/60/120 days before a non-renewal or rent increase) continue to apply. BuildMyLease leases generated in 2026 include all of it.
Do I have to use the REALTOR® association's Cook County or Chicago lease form?
No. The association forms are widely used and there is nothing wrong with them, but no ordinance requires a particular form — what the law requires is content: the right disclosures, the attached RLTO or RTLO summary, the Safer Homes summary, and clauses that do not exceed the local caps. Any lease that carries that content is compliant. BuildMyLease generates one from your answers, tailored to the property's location and unit count, with e-signature included.
How does the Chicago RLTO change the lease?
Chicago Municipal Code ch. 5-12 requires the ordinance summary and the current interest-rate summary attached to every covered lease (§ 5-12-170), imposes deposit interest at the City Comptroller-set rate — 0.01% for 2026 — with statutory damages of two months' rent for deposit violations (§ 5-12-080), caps late fees at $10/month on the first $500 of rent plus 5% of the amount over $500 (§ 5-12-140), requires two days' notice before non-emergency entry (§ 5-12-050), and — under the Fair Notice Ordinance (§ 5-12-130) — requires 30, 60 or 120 days' written notice before a non-renewal, termination or rent increase depending on the length of the tenancy. When you toggle "subject to RLTO" on, BuildMyLease includes the summary-attachment language and the RLTO-specific clauses automatically.
Does Cook County have its own tenant protections?
Yes. The Cook County Residential Tenant and Landlord Ordinance (Cook County Code ch. 42, art. II, effective June 1, 2021) caps deposits at 1.5× monthly rent, requires the deposit to be returned within 30 days with an itemized statement, caps late fees at $10/month on the first $1,000 of rent plus 5% of the excess, requires two days' notice before non-emergency entry, and requires the County's RTLO summary to be attached to every lease. It covers rentals in unincorporated Cook County and its municipalities other than Chicago, Evanston and Mount Prospect. When you toggle "subject to Cook County RTLO" on, BuildMyLease validates the 1.5× deposit cap at /review and adds the RTLO clause to the lease.
Can a landlord require electronic-funds-transfer-only rent payment?
No. 765 ILCS 705/4 (effective 2024) prohibits a landlord from requiring tenants to pay by electronic funds transfer; tenants must always have the option to pay by paper check or cash. If the landlord uses a third-party payment portal that charges fees, 765 ILCS 705/3.5 requires a fee-free alternative payment method.
Does the lease automatically include the Cook County rekey requirement?
It does — when you confirm the property is in Cook County via the property-location toggle. 765 ILCS 705/15 requires Cook County landlords to change or rekey the lock before each new tenant takes possession. Failure to rekey + a theft attributable to the failure exposes the landlord to damages.
How much notice is required to end a month-to-month tenancy?
30 days. Under 735 ILCS 5/9-207, either party must give at least thirty days' written notice on or before the last day of the rental period for which rent has been paid. Chicago RLTO and Cook County RTLO impose additional cure-and-notice procedures when applicable.
Do I need a lawyer to create an Illinois lease?
Not for a standard private-market rental covered by this tool. For 55+ senior housing, federally subsidized tenancies, manufactured-home-park rentals, co-op/condo subleases, or active eviction proceedings, you should consult an Illinois landlord-tenant attorney.