Illinois rental law for the broker exam
Illinois landlord and tenant law: match the issue to the rule
Illinois rental law comes from several statutes and local ordinances. Start with the issue, then check the property, agreement, location and date. The named Landlord and Tenant Act does not contain every deposit, repair or eviction rule. The safer-homes lease summary is required in 2026; the new rental-fee provisions discussed below remain future law until January 1, 2027.
Last reviewed:
What belongs to the named Landlord and Tenant Act?
765 ILCS 705 contains selected rules on liability waivers, payment methods, particular lease-termination situations, turnover locks, military orders, age-restricted-property temperatures, flooding and reusable screening reports. Read the relevant section's conditions. Residential and commercial leases are not interchangeable.
Section 1 generally invalidates a lease-related waiver of negligence liability of the lessor or the specified agents, servants or employees for injury or property damage in operating or maintaining the premises. Its exception concerns property damage in a nonresidential lease. It does not authorize the same waiver for residential injury, or turn every commercial personal-injury waiver into an enforceable term.
Keep the lease and recorded facts available, communicate through the responsible sponsoring broker and refer legal disputes appropriately. This lesson teaches the exam distinctions; it does not approve a private lease, notice, deduction or eviction.
Can the landlord require a portal or charge again for screening?
| Rule | What it requires | Conditions that matter |
|---|---|---|
| 705/4: electronic funds transfer | Do not require the covered payment by EFT | Residential lease, renewal or extension executed after the January 1, 2024 effective date; voluntary electronic payment is different |
| 705/3.5: fee-bearing third-party portal | Allow paper check, cash or another route without the transaction charge | Agreements executed after January 1, 2025; not a blanket ban on every otherwise lawful rental charge |
| 735 ILCS 5/9-218: on-site office | Accept timely rent there during regular office hours without a payment-method penalty or fee | 100 or more units in a building or complex, qualifying on-site office; cash may be refused |
| 705/30: qualifying reusable report | No access fee or application screening fee | All report, delivery, recency, cost and consistently used screening criteria must fit |
A fee-bearing portal is not made mandatory just because it is convenient for management. The separate on-site office rule also does not require every landlord to maintain an office or accept cash there. Subsection (b) preserves its stated treatment of older conflicting agreements; a conflicting term in an agreement entered into, extended or renewed on or after May 31, 2005 is void and unenforceable.
Under 705/30, the reusable report must be prepared within the previous 30 days by a consumer credit reporting agency at the applicant's request and expense. It must be directly available through the permitted process or a compliant report-provider website, cost the landlord nothing to access or use, and include all criteria the landlord consistently uses.
The report prominently states its currency date and includes the specified identity, contact, income, last-address and lawful eviction-history information. The landlord may request a statement about material changes and process an additional application, but cannot charge an application screening fee for the additional report when these conditions apply. A qualifying report does not guarantee approval or excuse discriminatory criteria. Review the Illinois fair housing examples for source-of-income and record distinctions.
Which locks, military and temperature rules depend on the property?
Turnover rekeying is not a statewide blanket rule
705/15 applies in counties with more than three million residents and concerns a dwelling under a written lease. After the former tenant vacates, immediate unit access must be changed by the new tenant's possession day. Its exceptions include an owner-occupied building of four units or fewer, an owner-occupied private-room rental and a written lease giving the tenant the rekey right. Theft liability requires the stated connection to failure to rekey. This is separate from survivor-related lock rights and the ban on locking out current tenants.
Military orders change the termination date, not just the reason
705/16 covers qualifying Illinois-resident service members and a family member residing with the tenant. Its conditions distinguish entering service for more than 29 consecutive days after the lease from permanent-change-of-station orders or a deployment of at least 90 days. Covered leases include residential, nonresidential, farm and mobile-home-lot leases. Provide the required orders and notice; the lease does not simply end when an order arrives.
Termination generally takes effect 30 days after delivery, but monthly rent uses 30 days after the next rent due date following notice. For example, assume qualifying orders and notice are properly delivered August 10, 2026, with rent due on the first. The next due date is September 1, and 30 days later is October 1. Unearned prepaid rent and the deposit are addressed separately, with the stated damage and repair qualification.
The Section 20 numbers concern property limited to people 55 or older
For covered premises-wide systems, 705/20 requires cooling to operate when the heat index exceeds 80°F during June 1 through September 30. During October 1 through May 31, heat must register at least 68°F from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. when outside temperature falls below 55°F, and at least 62°F from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. The outside-temperature condition appears in the daytime clause; do not add it to the nighttime clause.
Without a premises-wide cooling system serving units, the section instead addresses a cooled indoor common gathering space with free tenant access when the heat index exceeds 80°F. A property without such a gathering space is exempt from that subsection. Neither that exception nor the 55-plus limitation establishes that no other local heat or habitability duty applies.
What must be disclosed about flooding and survivor rights?
705/25 requires the specified written pre-signing flood disclosure, inclusion in a written lease or renewal and both parties' signatures. It addresses Special Flood Hazard Area status and known flooding of the rental property or parking areas, with frequency. Lower-level units, including first-floor units, have an additional ten-year flooding-history requirement for the unit or property.
After a subsection (b) failure and later discovery of flood-zone status, the described termination notice is due within 30 days after awareness of that disclosure failure. If a (b) or (c) failure is followed by flooding that damages personal property or affects habitability or access, the separate 30-day notice period runs from the flood. In each described termination path, advance rent and fees must be returned within 15 days after notice. Farm leases, concession leases and Department of Natural Resources rentals are excluded. The disclosure does not authorize an otherwise prohibited lower-level rental. The radon and lead comparison covers separate rental disclosures.
Since January 1, 2026, 765 ILCS 752/20 requires the state summary at the front of a new or renewed written residential lease, with each tenant's acknowledgment on each page. Obtain the current document from IDHR's safer-homes resource page. The currently linked summary is four pages, version V.2025-12.3. A homemade one-paragraph replacement does not supply that state summary.
The underlying survivor protections and their notice or evidence conditions are separate from attaching the summary. Do not treat the turnover rekey exemptions as a blanket defense to a survivor's lock request. IDHR also distinguishes a summary-disclosure failure from a housing discrimination claim; one is not automatically proof of the other.
Which security-deposit clock starts from which event?
The Security Deposit Return Act, 765 ILCS 710/1, concerns residential deposits and property-damage accounting. Its current text does not retain the former five-unit minimum. Do not confuse its coverage with the different interest threshold.
| Step | Period | Starting event or condition |
|---|---|---|
| Itemized damage statement with actual or estimated costs and required support | Within 30 days | Later of the tenant's vacancy or end of the right of possession |
| Paid receipts following a statement using estimates | Within 30 days after the statement | Follow the statute's delivery and evidence requirements |
| Full return when the required statement and receipts are not furnished | Within 45 days | The provision says from vacancy, not the later-of event used for the damage statement |
Normal wear and tear is not a damage deduction. The Act permits reasonable owner labor and qualified lease-specified restoration amounts, but a lease schedule does not make ordinary wear chargeable. The statement must identify the lease amount and include the relevant lease portion when that provision is used.
Section 1(b) has a no-fault missing-receipt alternative requiring an itemized cost list, other available evidence and a verified explanation. Missing receipts do not automatically mean permission to keep an unsupported amount. The forwarding-address and court-found bad-faith penalty conditions also matter. Do not turn the table into a conclusion about every unpaid-rent deduction or an individual disputed deposit.
Under the separate 765 ILCS 715, the statewide interest rule concerns at least 25 units in one building or a complex on contiguous parcels and deposits held for more than six months. Interest is computed from the deposit date using the statutory bank-rate formula. Within 30 days after each 12-month rental period, accumulated interest of at least $5 is paid by cash or rent credit, subject to the default exception. All accrued unpaid interest is due at termination regardless of amount. Public-housing deposits are excluded. Local rules can differ. A broker holding tenant money also needs the separate Illinois escrow handling rules.
Can a tenant repair and deduct, and can the owner retaliate?
The Residential Tenants' Right to Repair Act, 765 ILCS 742/5, applies only to a required repair whose reasonable cost does not exceed the lesser of $500 or half the monthly rent. The tenant sends the required writing by registered or certified mail or another restricted-delivery service. The ordinary landlord response period is 14 days after notice, with a faster response when emergency conditions require it.
For $1,200 monthly rent, half is $600, so the cap is $500. A $550 repair fails that test. If rent is $800, half is $400, so a $450 repair also fails even though it costs less than $500.
The process requires lawful, workmanlike repairs, a provider unrelated to the tenant, the appropriate legally required license or certificate, adequate insurance and a paid bill with the required provider information before deduction. Tenant-caused conditions are excluded under the stated rule. The Act excludes public housing, condominiums, qualifying nonprofit cooperatives, nonresidential tenancies, owner-occupied property with six or fewer units and units subject to the mobile-home statute. It is not a general right to stop all rent or ignore the process.
The Landlord Retaliation Act, 765 ILCS 721/5, /15 and /20, protects the specified good-faith complaints, repair requests, organizing, testimony and exercise of legal rights. Prohibited retaliation includes knowingly ending or refusing to renew a tenancy, increasing rent, cutting services or suing or threatening possession because of that conduct.
Protected activity within the preceding year can create the stated rebuttable presumption. It does not arise when the protected activity began after the alleged retaliation. A proven legitimate, nonretaliatory basis or an action begun earlier matters. A complaint is not automatic immunity from every lawful action, and timing alone is not a final court finding.
Which rules belong to the legal possession process?
Use Code of Civil Procedure Article IX for the applicable possession process. A termination notice, a filed case, an eviction order and enforcement are different steps. An owner or broker should not replace them with a lockout.
705/5 has a particular Class X felony provision: the stated on-premises charge plus judicial probable cause or grand-jury indictment, the required executed drug-free-housing addendum or substantially similar document, the lessor's election and the specified notice process matter. It does not make any arrest an automatic eviction, authorize personal removal or automatically forfeit the deposit. Other protections and defenses still need consideration.
705/10 addresses a lessee who did not tell a co-resident lessor that the lessee was a parent or guardian of a child under 18, and later discovers that the lessor meets the section's child-sex-offender definition. On its stated facts, it bars termination based on that discovery. It is not a general child-disclosure screening policy or a conclusion that other safety and termination rights disappear. Refer an actual case for legal review.
The separate Rental Property Utility Service Act, 765 ILCS 735/1.4, prohibits the stated occupied-building interruptions through nonpayment of landlord-responsible bills or equipment tampering. Its emergency and qualified temporary repair-shutoff exceptions are not permission to shut off service to collect rent.
Which requirements apply in 2026, and which begin in 2027?
The safer-homes summary requirement is current. The rental-fee provisions enacted in Public Act 104-0479, adding 705/35, are scheduled for January 1, 2027 under Public Act 104-0514. Read the companion law rather than applying the older July 1, 2026 clause in isolation.
The future section addresses nonoptional fee disclosure and specified fee limits and prohibitions, with its own applicability and exceptions. It is not an October 2026 statewide rule simply because the enactment can already be read online. Existing payment, screening, deposit, consumer-protection and local requirements still apply.
Location remains a separate check. The City of Chicago's Fair Notice guidance and Cook County's RTLO resource page describe local requirements and routes to the relevant rules. Confirm whether municipal or county rules govern the property and which provisions survive an exemption. This lesson does not certify a property's local coverage or supply a complete local compliance checklist.
Try six original Illinois rental-law questions
These study questions are not released or recalled PSI items. Choose first, then check the governing rule and changed fact.
1. Every payment through the portal costs extra
A residential agreement executed in 2026 requires the tenant to use a third-party portal. Every option charges $7, and management refuses every fee-free method. Which answer fits 705/3.5 and /4?
- The portal becomes compulsory because management prefers it
- A larger deposit cures the payment restriction
- The covered tenant must have the required payment alternative without that transaction charge
- Every landlord must open an office and accept cash there
Show answer 1
C is correct. A ignores the payment protections. B changes an unrelated term. C applies the stated fee-free route requirement. D invents an office requirement and ignores 9-218's cash qualification.
Change the fact: a permitted fee-free paper method is offered alongside an optional portal. The mere availability of electronic payment does not establish the same violation.
2. Vacancy and possession end on different dates
The tenant vacates September 1, 2026. The right of possession ends September 10. Which event starts 710/1(a)'s 30-day damage-statement period?
- September 10, the later event
- September 1 in every case
- Whenever the landlord hires a cleaner
- The next tenant's move-in date
Show answer 2
A is correct. A uses the later-of language. B drops it. C and D invent starting events. This question concerns damage itemization; it does not move the separate 45-day full-return provision to September 10.
Change the fact: vacancy and the right of possession both end September 1. The two events then give the same damage-statement starting date. Apply the actual delivery and applicable deadline rules when calculating a real final date.
3. The repair is below half the rent
Rent is $1,200. A required repair reasonably costs $550. Assume the tenant is considering only the statewide 742/5 remedy. Which conclusion is correct?
- The repair qualifies because half the rent is $600
- The tenant may deduct the whole monthly rent
- Sending a text waives the monetary cap
- The $550 repair exceeds the $500 lesser limit
Show answer 3
D is correct. A ignores the other ceiling. B invents a full-rent remedy. C invents a waiver. D compares $500 with $600 and chooses the lower limit.
Change the fact: a $450 repair with the same rent meets the cost threshold. Property eligibility, notice, response time, provider, evidence and the other statutory requirements still must fit.
4. A repair complaint is followed by nonrenewal
A tenant made a protected good-faith repair request before a nonrenewal within the following year. Which statement correctly describes the retaliation analysis?
- The request makes every later action permanently unlawful
- The stated evidence can create a rebuttable presumption, with legitimate-basis and earlier-action rules still relevant
- A repair request is never protected
- Timing proves every element and eliminates court review
Show answer 4
B is correct. A invents immunity. B keeps the presumption rebuttable and recognizes 721/15. C contradicts 721/5. D treats an evidentiary rule as a final decision.
Change the fact: the protected activity began after the alleged retaliatory action. Section 20 says that presumption does not arise on that sequence. Other actual facts still require review.
5. Two tenants renew a written residential lease
For a covered 2026 renewal, how should the landlord handle the 752/20 summary?
- Wait until 2027
- Replace it with one sentence and one tenant's initials
- Attach the state summary at the front and obtain each tenant's acknowledgment on each summary page
- Attach it only after a tenant reports violence
Show answer 5
C is correct. A confuses this current duty with future fee provisions. B omits the required document and acknowledgments. C follows the written-renewal rule. D adds a report-of-violence condition that the attachment requirement does not contain.
Change the fact: this is a new written residential lease rather than a renewal. The summary requirement still applies; check all named tenants and every page.
6. An online enactment still displays July 2026
For a question expressly asking about October 2026, what should a candidate do with the rental-fee provisions in P.A.104-0479?
- Read P.A.104-0514 and treat the new section as future law scheduled for January 1, 2027
- Apply the older July 1 clause without checking the companion law
- Assume every existing rental fee is unrestricted until 2027
- Assume the 2026 safer-homes summary is also delayed
Show answer 6
A is correct. A uses the amended effective date. B ignores it. C overlooks existing law. D merges two different enactments.
Change the fact: the question concerns a lease entered into after the new section takes effect. Check the then-current law, its applicability and its exceptions; do not carry an October 2026 answer forward without that review.
Illinois landlord and tenant questions answered
Does Illinois have one law covering every landlord and tenant issue?
No. The Landlord and Tenant Act, 765 ILCS 705, covers selected subjects. Separate statutes address deposit returns and interest, repair and deduct, retaliation, utilities, survivor protections and eviction. The lease, property, date, federal program and local ordinances may change the answer. Find the rule for the issue instead of treating every rental duty as part of 705.
Does a small owner-occupied building escape all tenant protections?
No. Each exception belongs to its own rule. Section 705/15 has a four-or-fewer-unit owner-occupied exception to its turnover rekey requirement. The statewide repair-and-deduct Act uses an owner-occupied six-or-fewer-unit exception. Neither automatically exempts the owner from all deposit, disclosure, fair housing, utility or anti-lockout requirements. Local coverage must also be checked separately.
Can a landlord change the locks when an eviction notice expires?
An expired notice is not a court order authorizing the landlord or broker to remove the tenant. Use the applicable eviction and enforcement process, including any defenses and local requirements. Do not treat a turnover rekey rule as permission to lock out a current occupant. The Cook County guidance expressly distinguishes court enforcement from a landlord lockout.
Practice the property fact that changes the answer
The June 24, 2026 PSI state outline, III.I, names the Illinois Landlord Tenant Act. The whole Additional Illinois Laws and Regulations area is 25%, or 10 of 40 scored state broker questions. That is not a promise of ten landlord-tenant questions. Check which rule applies and explain its exception, rather than relying on a memorized score from these examples.
For more broker-exam practice with property facts and legal conditions, you can download Pass Illinois. Use it alongside the primary sources and your required education.