{ "meta": { "name": "Deposit Record ruleset: Illinois", "description": "The verified Illinois security-deposit rules that https://deposit.orygn.tech/illinois is built from: each rule as a machine payload, its plain-English summary, its exact citation, the verbatim text of its source where quoted (sourceType says when that is not statute text), the official source URL it was verified against, and the date a human last checked it.", "state": "IL", "page": "https://deposit.orygn.tech/illinois", "dataUrl": "https://deposit.orygn.tech/data/illinois.json", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-25", "citeAs": "Deposit Record, Illinois Security Deposit Return (verified October 25, 2026), https://deposit.orygn.tech/illinois", "publisher": { "name": "Orygn LLC", "url": "https://orygn.tech/" }, "license": "CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/): free to reuse and quote with attribution to Deposit Record and a link to the page. The statutes themselves are public law.", "disclaimer": "General information, not legal advice. Every rule cites the source it was verified against; rely on the source, and on a lawyer for your situation.", "fields": { "summary": "plain-English statement of the rule, as rendered on the page", "value": "the machine payload the calculator uses (days, triggers, caps, multipliers); its keys are named for what they hold and explained by the summary", "citation": "exact pin-cite for the rule: a statute, an enacting act, a case or agency guidance (see sourceType)", "statuteQuote": "verbatim text quoted from the document at sourceUrl. Despite the name, not every quote is statute text: sourceType says what it is. An automated weekly check compares each quote with its source.", "statuteQuoteCitation": "pin-cite for statuteQuote alone, when the quote is narrower than the rule's citation", "sourceType": "what statuteQuote is. Absent or 'codified': codified statute text. 'session-law': a clause of the enacting act that was never codified. 'case': a court's words. 'agency': an agency's reading of the statute, which shows how the law is enforced in practice but is not what the statute says.", "sourceUrl": "the official source the rule was verified against, and where its quote is found. Some official hosts block automated clients.", "readableUrl": "an unofficial, easier-to-read copy of the same text, for people; rely on sourceUrl", "derivation": "'verbatim' for a literal statutory rule; 'synthesized' for our reading across sections, which the page labels as our interpretation. Absent means the rule is not labelled either way.", "effectiveDate": "when the rule's current text took effect, recorded as provenance. Read effectiveDateIsFloor before using it.", "effectiveDateIsFloor": "true means effectiveDate is only the earliest date we could prove this text was already in force. The real effective date is earlier and unverified, so do not present it as 'effective '.", "lastVerified": "the date a human last checked this rule against sourceUrl", "confidence": "'high', 'medium' or 'low': our confidence in the rule as stated", "amendedBy": "the most recent notable amending act", "notes": "traps and edge cases, as rendered on the page" }, "stateFields": { "stateCode": "two-letter state code", "stateName": "state name", "slug": "the state page is https://deposit.orygn.tech/{slug}", "lastReviewed": "when a human last reviewed this ruleset as a whole. Single rules are re-verified between reviews, so a rule's lastVerified can be later.", "summary": "plain-English summary of the state's return rules, as on the page", "letterFooter": "the source line printed at the foot of the generated letter", "cities": "city-level records; see meta.cityFields", "localLaw": "the state's position on local deposit rules. preempted is true only where a statute forecloses them, and citation then carries it; summary says what we have and have not read.", "sources": "the primary sources the page is built on", "pendingLegislation": "law signed but not yet in force (status 'enacted-not-in-force') or a bill a reader deciding today should know about ('pending'). The rule objects describe the law as it stands; this is the one forward-looking field. citySlug is set when the act is a city ordinance.", "stabilized": "New York only: the separate Gen. Oblig. Law 7-107 rules for rent-stabilized units, which reach leases entered into on or after appliesToLeasesFromISO. Each member that has a citation is a rule object." }, "cityFields": { "city": "city name", "citySlug": "stable machine key for the city", "applies": "true if the city adds a rule on top of state law. false is an explicit record that we found no city rule, and only for the kinds of rule listed in checkedFor.", "summary": "plain-English statement of the city rule, as rendered on the page", "coverageQuestion": "asked before any city math: whether the ordinance covers this rental at all. Absent means it applies citywide.", "interest": "the city deposit-interest rule and its rate data (machine payload)", "cap": "a city ceiling on the deposit. Absent means not recorded, which is not the same as none: see checkedFor.", "returnRules": "a local return clock (machine payload): days after the tenant vacates to return the deposit, any separate statement and receipts clocks, faster returns after particular events, and whether the code has its own rule for deadlines that land on a weekend or holiday. Where state and local clocks both apply, the earlier one governs. Absent means the city does not change the state's return rules.", "layersOn": "the citySlug of another row whose rules also apply in this city (for example a suburb inside a county ordinance's reach)", "ownerOccupiedExclusionMaxUnits": "the local ordinance does not reach owner-occupied premises with this many units or fewer; state law still applies there", "checkedFor": "the kinds of deposit rule we actually searched for in this city ('interest', 'cap', 'deadline', 'itemization'). A row says nothing about kinds it does not list.", "citation": "exact pin-cite for the city rule", "sourceUrl": "the official source the city rule was verified against", "lastVerified": "the date a human last checked this city rule against sourceUrl", "confidence": "'high', 'medium' or 'low': our confidence in the city rule as stated", "notes": "what to re-check and where the rule stops, as rendered on the page" }, "schema": "Every published key is described here: meta.fields for rule objects, meta.stateFields for the other keys of rules, meta.cityFields for each entry of rules.cities. Every key of rules not in meta.stateFields is one rule object, named for what it governs (deadline, cap, penalty and so on).", "version": "4ea74ab", "dataHash": "00f269b4b68c2730", "about": "version is the git commit these files were built from, ending in -dirty if the tree had uncommitted changes. dataHash is a fingerprint of a state's rules object and changes when, and only when, that object changes: poll it, not version or lastReviewed, to detect new data." }, "rules": { "stateCode": "IL", "stateName": "Illinois", "slug": "illinois", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-25", "summary": "Illinois gives landlords two clocks. To keep any part of the deposit for damage, you must send an itemized statement, with the estimated or actual cost of each item and the paid receipts attached, within 30 days of the later of the move-out date and the end of the tenant’s right of possession. If you send no such statement, the whole deposit is due within 45 days of the move-out date. Since January 1, 2024 this applies to every residential landlord, whatever the number of units. Illinois sets no statewide cap on the amount, but Chicago, suburban Cook County, Evanston and several other towns add rules of their own, and some of their deadlines are shorter.", "letterFooter": { "label": "Security Deposit Return Act, 765 ILCS 710", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/ILCS/Articles?ActID=2202&ChapterID=62" }, "deadline": { "summary": "Illinois gives you 30 days to furnish an itemized statement if you keep anything for damage, and 45 days to return the whole deposit if you do not. The 45 days run from the date the tenant moved out, and the refund goes in person or by postmarked mail.", "value": { "days": 45, "dayType": "calendar", "triggerBasis": "single", "triggerEvents": [ "vacate" ], "suspendUntilForwardingAddress": false }, "citation": "765 ILCS 710/1(a)", "statuteQuote": "If no such statement and receipts, or copies thereof, are furnished to the lessee as required by this Section, the lessor shall return the security deposit in full within 45 days of the date that the lessee vacated the premises, delivered in person or by postmarked mail directed to the last known address of the lessee or another address provided by the lessee.", "sourceUrl": "https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/076507100K1.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2024-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "high", "amendedBy": "P.A. 103-224 (SB1741)", "notes": "This clock runs from the move-out date only. Unlike the statement clock, the text does not wait for the end of the tenant’s right of possession; some guides apply the later date here too, and no court has decided it. Count from the day after move-out: if the tenant left on June 1, day 45 is July 16. If day 45 falls on a weekend or an Illinois holiday, the state’s general time-counting statute (5 ILCS 70/1.11) would carry it to the next business day, but no Illinois court has applied that statute to this Act, so treat the strict date as your deadline. The refund goes in person or by postmarked mail; email is not one of the listed methods for the money. A landlord who misses the rules here must return the entire deposit, even where there was real damage, and can then sue the tenant for the damage separately (Verhaeg v. McElligott, 2026 IL App (5th) 250731, a September 2026 decision that may still change; Mallah v. Barkauskas, 130 Ill. App. 3d 815 (1985); Cross v. Mayer, 73 Ill. App. 3d 726 (1979))." }, "forwardingAddress": { "summary": "Illinois does not make you wait for a forwarding address, and no clock pauses without one. You send the statement and any refund to the tenant’s last known address.", "value": { "required": false, "mustBeWritten": false, "suspendsObligation": false, "forfeitsRightIfNotProvided": false }, "citation": "765 ILCS 710/1(a)", "statuteQuote": "If the lessee fails to provide the lessor with a mailing address or electronic mail address, the lessor shall not be held liable for any damages or penalties as a result of the lessee's failure to provide an address.", "sourceUrl": "https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/076507100K1.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2024-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "high", "notes": "On our reading, which no court has tested, this sentence protects you only from damages or penalties caused by the tenant’s failure to give an address: it does not suspend the clocks, it does not excuse a statement sent in bad faith, and it is not a right to keep the deposit. The text can also be read to apply where the tenant gave one kind of address but not the other. Either way, if the tenant gave you any address, including the unit itself as the last known address, plan on using it." }, "itemization": { "summary": "The statement lists each item of damage with its estimated or actual repair or replacement cost, with the paid receipts, or copies, attached. You may charge the reasonable cost of your own labor.", "value": { "required": true, "mustBeWritten": true, "excusedWhen": "The statement is the condition for withholding for property damage. If, through no fault of your own, you cannot produce receipts, you must instead give an itemized list of costs, any other evidence of cost, and a verified statement explaining why (710/1(b)); that does not extend the 30 days." }, "citation": "765 ILCS 710/1(a), (b)", "statuteQuote": "If the lessor utilizes his or her own labor to repair or replace any damage or damaged items caused by the lessee, the lessor may include the reasonable cost of his or her labor to repair or replace such damage or damaged items. If estimated cost is given, the lessor shall furnish to the lessee, delivered in person or by postmarked mail directed to the last known address of the lessee or another address provided by the lessee, paid receipts, or copies thereof, within 30 days from the date the statement showing estimated cost was furnished to the lessee, as required by this Section.", "statuteQuoteCitation": "765 ILCS 710/1(a)", "sourceUrl": "https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/076507100K1.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2024-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "high", "notes": "Estimates start a second clock. Mail or hand over the paid receipts within 30 days of the date you sent the estimate, or you must return the deposit: in one case receipts served three days late cost the landlord the whole deposit, and good faith was no excuse (Mallah v. Barkauskas, 130 Ill. App. 3d 815 (1985)). Receipts cannot go by email. A Chicago court has held that a photocopy of a check the payee never cashed is not a paid receipt (Boyer v. Buol Properties, 2014 IL App (1st) 132780, decided under the Chicago ordinance)." }, "deductions": { "summary": "You may deduct unpaid rent and the cost of repairing damage beyond normal wear and tear, itemized with receipts. A written lease may fix a dollar amount for cleaning, repair or replacement of a component, within limits.", "value": { "allowed": [ "Unpaid rent and other amounts the tenant owes under the lease, itemized (courts treat a good-faith non-damage withholding as outside the statement duty, but the safe practice is to itemize it)", "The estimated or actual cost of repairing or replacing damage beyond normal wear and tear, with paid receipts or copies attached", "The reasonable cost of your own labor to repair or replace damage the tenant caused", "A dollar amount the written lease specifies for cleaning, repair or replacement of a component, if it is for damage beyond normal wear and tear, reasonable to restore the lease-start condition, and referenced in the statement with a copy of that part of the lease" ], "disallowed": [ "Normal wear and tear", "Any damage charge not itemized within the statement deadline", "A repair cost with neither paid receipts nor, where receipts are unavailable through no fault of yours, the itemized list, other evidence and verified statement subsection (b) requires" ], "documentationThresholdUsd": null, "photosRequiredWhenDeducting": false }, "citation": "765 ILCS 710/1(a), (b)", "statuteQuote": "If a written lease specifies the cost for cleaning, repair, or replacement of any component of the leased premises or any component of the building or common areas that, if damaged, will not be replaced, the lessor may withhold the dollar amount specified in the lease. Costs specified in a written lease shall be for damage beyond normal wear and tear and reasonable to restore the leased premises to the same condition as at the time the lease began. The itemized statement shall reference the dollar amount specified in the written lease associated with the specific building component or amenity and include a copy of the applicable portion of the lease. Deductions for costs or values not specified in the lease shall otherwise comply with the requirements of this Section.", "statuteQuoteCitation": "765 ILCS 710/1(a)", "sourceUrl": "https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/076507100K1.htm", "derivation": "synthesized", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2024-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "high", "notes": "No Illinois statute defines normal wear and tear; the phrase appears once in the Act, in the lease-cost sentence above. Courts say a tenant must leave the unit in the condition it was in when they moved in, normal wear and tear excepted (Ikari v. Mason Properties, 314 Ill. App. 3d 222 (2000)), and one appellate court treated nail holes as normal wear and tear (Tobin v. McClure, 144 Ill. App. 3d 33 (1986)). From January 1, 2027, for leases entered into after that date (owner-occupied buildings of six or fewer units excepted), a new Illinois law bans charging tenants several kinds of fees, including one for routine maintenance and upkeep of the unit (765 ILCS 705/35); it is a fee law, not a deposit law, but a lease cleaning charge written to get around it will draw attention." }, "interest": { "summary": "State law requires interest only from a lessor of property containing 25 or more units in one building or in a complex on touching parcels, on a deposit held more than six months. Chicago requires interest from every landlord its ordinance covers, with no unit threshold, and a few other towns have rules of their own.", "value": { "required": false, "rateSource": "published-table" }, "citation": "765 ILCS 715/1", "statuteQuote": "A lessor of residential real property, containing 25 or more units in either a single building or a complex of buildings located on contiguous parcels of real property, who receives a security deposit from a lessee to secure the payment of rent or compensation for damage to property shall pay interest to the lessee computed from the date of the deposit at a rate equal to the interest paid by the largest commercial bank, as measured by total assets, having its main banking premises in this State on minimum deposit passbook savings accounts as of December 31 of the calendar year immediately preceding the inception of the rental agreement on any deposit held by the lessor for more than 6 months.", "sourceUrl": "https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/ILCS/Articles?ActID=2203&ChapterID=62", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "1993-08-20", "effectiveDateIsFloor": true, "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "high", "amendedBy": "P.A. 88-449", "notes": "Count the units you hold in one building, or in one complex whose parcels touch; units owned by different owners are not added together (Munroe v. Brower Realty & Management Co., 206 Ill. App. 3d 699 (1990)), and a manager who signs leases as the lessor can be liable (Kutcher v. Barry Realty, Inc., 362 Ill. App. 3d 756 (2005)). Interest runs from the date of the deposit, but only once the deposit has been held more than six months; at exactly six months nothing is owed. Public housing is outside the Act. A lease clause waiving the interest is void (Wang v. Williams, 343 Ill. App. 3d 495 (2003))." }, "cap": { "summary": "Illinois sets no statewide limit on a residential security deposit. Suburban Cook County, Evanston, Northlake and Oak Park cap deposits at one and a half months’ rent, and a mobile home, or a lot, leased from the owner of a park of five or more homes is capped at one month’s rent under a separate act.", "value": { "hasCap": false, "capMonths": null }, "citation": "No statewide cap in 765 ILCS 710, 715 or 705; cf. 765 ILCS 745/12(b)", "statuteQuote": "No lease hereafter executed or currently existing between a park owner and tenant in a mobile home park or manufactured home community in this State shall contain any provision: (a) Permitting the park owner to charge a penalty fee for late payment of rent without allowing a tenant a minimum of 5 days beyond the date the rent is due in which to remit such payment; (b) Permitting the park owner to charge an amount in excess of one month's rent as a security deposit;", "statuteQuoteCitation": "765 ILCS 745/12(b) (Mobile Home Landlord and Tenant Rights Act)", "sourceUrl": "https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/ILCS/Articles?ActID=2209&ChapterID=62", "derivation": "synthesized", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2015-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "high", "amendedBy": "P.A. 98-1062", "notes": "The quoted cap is real law, and it is not your law unless you are a park owner leasing a mobile home, or a lot, in a park of five or more homes. For an ordinary apartment or house there is no statewide ceiling. A 2026 bill to cap deposits at one month’s rent (SB3530) stalled in the Senate. Two more state rules touch what you may charge: a landlord may charge a security deposit to cover restoring the property if a tenant removes an electric vehicle charging system they installed (765 ILCS 1085/35), and you may not charge a higher deposit to a tenant with a disability, or an extra charge for a guide, hearing or support dog beyond actual damage (775 ILCS 5/3-102.1, 5/3-104.1)." }, "penalty": { "summary": "Miss the statement or refund rules and you must return the whole deposit; that part is automatic. The double penalty, twice the amount wrongfully kept plus court costs and attorney fees, needs a court finding that you refused to send the statement or sent it in bad faith, and that you also failed to return what was due on time.", "value": { "standard": "bad-faith", "badFaithFlatUsd": null, "multiplier": 2, "multiplierBase": "wrongfully-withheld", "multiplierIsDiscretionaryCeiling": false, "attorneyFees": true, "attorneyFeesBasis": "tenant-only", "forfeitureForFailureToItemize": true, "deadlinePresumptionDays": null, "burdenOnLandlord": false }, "citation": "765 ILCS 710/1(c)", "statuteQuote": "(c) Upon a finding by a circuit court that a lessor has refused to supply the itemized statement required by this Section, or has supplied such statement in bad faith, and has failed or refused to return the amount of the security deposit due within the time limits provided, the lessor shall be liable for an amount equal to twice the amount of the security deposit due, together with court costs and reasonable attorney's fees.", "sourceUrl": "https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/076507100K1.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2024-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "high", "notes": "Lateness alone does not trigger the double penalty: \"the act of refusal requires more than mere noncompliance\" (Verhaeg v. McElligott, 2026 IL App (5th) 250731, ¶ 32, a September 2026 decision that may still change), and bad faith is a question of fact: courts ask whether the landlord engaged in \"vexatious, unreasonable, or outrageous\" conduct (Ikari v. Mason Properties, 314 Ill. App. 3d 222 (2000)). The penalty is measured on the part wrongfully kept, not the whole deposit: Ikari read \"the security deposit due\" as what remained due. Whether that figure is the total or comes on top of returning the money is not settled. Once bad faith is found, attorney fees are mandatory, even if the tenant’s lawyer charged nothing. The tenant has the burden of proving the Act was not followed (Verhaeg ¶ 23). Chicago, suburban Cook County, Evanston, Northlake and Oak Park have their own, stricter penalties." }, "deliveryByEmail": { "summary": "The itemized statement may be emailed to a verified email address the tenant gave you. The receipts after an estimate, and a full refund, may not: in person or by postmarked mail.", "value": { "allowed": true, "conditions": "Statement only, to a verified electronic mail address provided by the lessee. Receipts that follow an estimate and a full refund go in person or by postmarked mail." }, "citation": "765 ILCS 710/1(a)", "statuteQuote": "by personal delivery, by postmarked mail directed to his or her last known address, or by electronic mail to a verified electronic mail address provided by the lessee", "sourceUrl": "https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/076507100K1.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2024-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "high", "notes": "\"Verified\" is not defined. Whether a mailed statement counts as furnished on the postmark date is not decided by any Illinois case; the statute’s use of \"postmarked mail\" suggests the postmark date matters, so keep proof of it. Chicago and Cook County ordinances say \"deliver or mail\" and do not mention email, and Mount Prospect requires certified mail or personal service." }, "scope": { "summary": "Since January 1, 2024 the Return Act covers every landlord of residential property who takes a deposit, whatever the number of units. The old five-unit threshold is gone.", "value": { "residentialOnly": true }, "citation": "765 ILCS 710/1(a); P.A. 103-224", "statuteQuote": "a lessor of residential real property who has received a security deposit from a lessee to secure the payment of rent or to compensate for damage to the leased premises may not withhold any part of that deposit as reimbursement for property damage unless", "statuteQuoteCitation": "765 ILCS 710/1(a)", "sourceUrl": "https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/076507100K1.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2024-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "high", "amendedBy": "P.A. 103-224 (SB1741)", "notes": "Before 2024 the Act reached only residential property containing five or more units, and many guides, including the Illinois Attorney General’s own fact sheet, still say so. Three different thresholds get mixed up: the Return Act now has none, the Interest Act still starts at 25 units, and Chicago’s ordinance does not reach owner-occupied buildings of six units or fewer, which still owe state law. A mobile home, or a lot, leased from the owner of a park of five or more homes is governed by a different act (765 ILCS 745). Whether the 2024 change reaches a small landlord’s lease signed before 2024 is not settled; on our reading it applies to any withholding after January 1, 2024." }, "ownershipChange": { "summary": "If the property is sold or otherwise transferred, other than to a lienholder, the new owner becomes liable for the deposit, including any interest owed, and the seller stays liable too.", "value": { "liabilityShiftsToNewOwner": true }, "citation": "765 ILCS 710/1.1", "statuteQuote": "In the event of a sale, lease, transfer or other direct or indirect disposition of residential real property, other than to the holder of a lien interest in such property, by a lessor who has received a security deposit or prepaid rent from a lessee, the transferee of such property shall be liable to that lessee for any security deposit, including statutory interest, or prepaid rent which the lessee has paid to the transferor. Transferor shall remain jointly and severally liable with the transferee to the lessee for such security deposit or prepaid rent.", "sourceUrl": "https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/ILCS/Articles?ActID=2202&ChapterID=62", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "1980-01-01", "effectiveDateIsFloor": true, "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "high", "notes": "State law sets no notice deadline for an ordinary sale. A different rule covers mortgage foreclosures: a buyer at a foreclosure sale who actually receives the deposits is liable for them and must post a written notice on each unit’s main entrance within 21 days after the transfer and after receiving the tenant’s name and address (710/1.2). Chicago and Cook County add their own transfer notices." }, "statementClock": { "summary": "To keep any part of the deposit for damage, deliver an itemized statement within 30 days of the later of the move-out date and the date the tenant’s right of possession ended. If you give estimated costs, the paid receipts must follow within 30 days of the date you furnished the statement.", "value": { "days": 30, "triggerBasis": "later-of", "triggerEvents": [ "vacate", "right-of-possession-ends" ], "receiptsDaysAfterEstimate": 30, "emailAllowedForStatement": true, "emailAllowedForReceiptsAndRefund": false }, "citation": "765 ILCS 710/1(a)", "statuteQuote": "(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), a lessor of residential real property who has received a security deposit from a lessee to secure the payment of rent or to compensate for damage to the leased premises may not withhold any part of that deposit as reimbursement for property damage unless the lessor has, within 30 days of the date that the lessee vacated the leased premises or within 30 days of the date the lessee's right of possession ends, whichever is later, furnished to the lessee, by personal delivery, by postmarked mail directed to his or her last known address, or by electronic mail to a verified electronic mail address provided by the lessee, an itemized statement of the damage allegedly caused to the leased premises and the estimated or actual cost for repairing or replacing each item on that statement, attaching the paid receipts, or copies thereof, for the repair or replacement.", "sourceUrl": "https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/076507100K1.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2024-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "high", "amendedBy": "P.A. 103-224 (SB1741)", "notes": "The \"whichever is later\" wording was added on January 1, 2024. A month-to-month tenant who gives short notice and leaves early may still have a right of possession running to the end of the notice period, and then your 30 days run from that later date (an unpublished 2026 appellate order applied it that way: Wilkin v. LJB Homes LLC, 2026 IL App (2d) 250182-U). The statement may go by email, but only to a verified email address the tenant gave you; the receipts that follow an estimate, and a full refund where no statement is sent, must go in person or by postmarked mail; the Act is silent on how a balance sent with a statement travels. Neither \"vacated\" nor \"right of possession ends\" is defined in the Act. The statute speaks of withholding \"as reimbursement for property damage\", and courts have held that a good-faith withholding for something else, such as unpaid rent, falls outside it; the safe practice is to itemize everything you keep, inside the 30 days." }, "interestAct": { "summary": "Where the Interest Act applies, interest that has accumulated to $5 or more is paid within 30 days after each 12-month rental period, by cash or credit toward rent, unless the tenant is in default, and everything still unpaid is due when the tenancy ends. A landlord who willfully fails to pay owes an amount equal to the deposit, plus court costs and attorney fees.", "value": { "unitThreshold": 25, "unitBasis": "single-building-or-contiguous-complex", "heldMoreThanMonths": 6, "annualPayoutThresholdCents": 500, "rates": [ { "leaseYear": 1997, "ratePercent": 2.5, "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 1998, "ratePercent": 2.5, "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 1999, "ratePercent": 1.88, "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2000, "ratePercent": 1.73, "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2001, "ratePercent": 1.73, "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2002, "ratePercent": 0.45, "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2003, "ratePercent": 0.4, "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2004, "ratePercent": 0.3, "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2005, "ratePercent": 0.4, "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2006, "ratePercent": 0.55, "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2007, "ratePercent": 0.5, "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2008, "ratePercent": 0.35, "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2009, "ratePercent": 0.25, "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2010, "ratePercent": 0.095, "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2011, "ratePercent": 0.195, "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2012, "ratePercent": 0.005, "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2013, "ratePercent": 0.005, "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2014, "ratePercent": 0.005, "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2015, "ratePercent": 0.005, "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2016, "ratePercent": 0.045, "apyPercent": 0.05, "noticeUrl": "https://idfpr.illinois.gov/news/2016/secdepintrates.html", "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2017, "ratePercent": 0.005, "apyPercent": 0.01, "noticeUrl": "https://idfpr.illinois.gov/news/2017/1132017interestratesaffectingsecdepositinterestact.html", "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2018, "ratePercent": 0.005, "apyPercent": 0.01, "noticeUrl": "https://idfpr.illinois.gov/news/2018/182018interestratesaffectingsecdepositinterestact.html", "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2019, "ratePercent": 0.005, "apyPercent": 0.01, "noticeUrl": "https://idfpr.illinois.gov/news/2019/172019interestratesaffectingsecdepositinterestact.html", "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2020, "ratePercent": 0.005, "apyPercent": 0.01, "noticeUrl": "https://idfpr.illinois.gov/news/2020/162020interestratesaffectingsecdepositinterestact.html", "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2021, "ratePercent": 0.005, "apyPercent": 0.01, "noticeUrl": "https://idfpr.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/idfpr/news/2021/2021-01-08-interest-rates-affecting-security-deposit-interest-act.pdf", "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2022, "ratePercent": 0.005, "apyPercent": 0.01, "noticeUrl": "https://idfpr.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/idfpr/news/2022/2022-interest-rates-affecting-the-security-deposit-interest-act-announcement.pdf", "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2023, "ratePercent": 0.005, "apyPercent": 0.01, "noticeUrl": "https://idfpr.illinois.gov/content/soi/idfpr/en/news/2023/interest-rates-affecting-security-deposit-interest-act.html", "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2024, "ratePercent": 0.005, "apyPercent": 0.01, "noticeUrl": "https://idfpr.illinois.gov/news/2024/2024-interest-rates-affecting-security-deposit-interest-act.html", "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2025, "ratePercent": 0.005, "apyPercent": 0.01, "noticeUrl": "https://idfpr.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/idfpr/news/2025/2025-interest-rates-affecting-security-deposit-interest-act.pdf", "verified": "2026-10-25" }, { "leaseYear": 2026, "ratePercent": 0.005, "apyPercent": 0.01, "noticeUrl": "https://idfpr.illinois.gov/news/2026/interest-rates-affecting-security-deposit-act.html", "verified": "2026-10-25" } ], "calculatorUses": "apy-when-published" }, "citation": "765 ILCS 715/1, 715/2", "statuteQuote": "The lessor shall, within 30 days after the end of each 12 month rental period, pay to the lessee any interest that has accumulated to an amount of $5 or more, by cash or credit to be applied to rent due, except when the lessee is in default under the terms of the lease. The lessor shall pay all interest that has accumulated and remains unpaid, regardless of the amount, upon termination of the tenancy.", "statuteQuoteCitation": "765 ILCS 715/2", "sourceUrl": "https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/ILCS/Articles?ActID=2203&ChapterID=62", "derivation": "synthesized", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2016-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "high", "amendedBy": "P.A. 99-253", "notes": "The rate is fixed by the year the rental agreement began: it is the figure the largest Illinois-headquartered bank paid on minimum-deposit passbook savings on December 31 of the year before. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation publishes it each January, and since 2016 it has published two numbers: an interest rate (0.005% for leases beginning in 2026) and an annual percentage yield (0.01%). The Act does not say which to use and no court has decided it. Our calculator uses the yield, which is the higher figure, and shows the other beside it; on a $2,000 deposit the difference is about ten cents a year. Leases beginning in 2016 carry 0.045% (yield 0.05%). The $5 figure is a payment trigger, not a floor: interest builds up, and once the unpaid total reaches $5 at the end of a 12-month period it is due within 30 days. The willfulness penalty is an amount equal to the deposit, not twice it; whether a tenant can recover it once or once for each 12-month period missed has not been decided, and the one appellate court to touch it expressly left the question open (Dickson v. West Koke Mill Village Partners, 329 Ill. App. 3d 341 (2002)). An honest mistake about procedure is not willful (Inendino v. Equity Property Management, LLC, 2022 IL App (2d) 210447)." }, "licenseeEscrow": { "summary": "A licensed broker or property manager who holds a tenant’s deposit must keep it in a separate escrow account and may not mix it with their own money. A deposit held by the sole owner of the property it secures is outside this rule.", "value": { "appliesToLicensees": true, "soleOwnerHoldingOwnDepositExempt": true, "separateAccountRequired": true, "commingleProhibited": true }, "citation": "225 ILCS 454/1-10, 454/20-20(a)(17), (22)", "statuteQuote": "\"Escrow moneys\" includes, without limitation, earnest moneys and security deposits, except those security deposits in which the person holding the security deposit is also the sole owner of the property being leased and for which the security deposit is being held.", "statuteQuoteCitation": "225 ILCS 454/1-10", "sourceUrl": "https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/022504540K1-10.htm", "derivation": "synthesized", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2025-01-01", "effectiveDateIsFloor": true, "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "high", "notes": "This is a licensing rule, enforced by the state against the licensee, not a tenant remedy. The escrow account must be non-interest-bearing unless interest is \"otherwise required by law\" (as under Chicago’s ordinance or the state Interest Act) or the parties require it in writing." }, "disabilityDeposit": { "summary": "You may not charge a higher deposit to a tenant because of a disability, or charge extra for a guide, hearing or support dog beyond actual damage the dog does.", "value": { "noIncreaseForDisability": true, "noExtraChargeForAssistanceDog": true }, "citation": "775 ILCS 5/3-102.1(C)(1); 775 ILCS 5/3-104.1(C)", "statuteQuote": "The landlord may not increase for persons with a disability any customarily required security deposit.", "statuteQuoteCitation": "775 ILCS 5/3-102.1(C)(1)", "sourceUrl": "https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/077500050K3-102.1.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2007-10-10", "effectiveDateIsFloor": true, "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "high", "notes": "One narrow exception: where a tenant with a disability makes modifications at their own expense, and where that is necessary to ensure with reasonable certainty that funds will be available to pay for the restoration, the landlord may negotiate, as part of a restoration agreement, payments into an interest-bearing escrow account, over a reasonable period, of a reasonable amount not exceeding the cost of restoring the unit, with the interest going to the tenant. Federal fair-housing rules on assistance animals are outside what this page covers." }, "mobileHomeLot": { "summary": "Leasing a mobile home, or a lot, from the owner of a park of five or more homes is a different regime: the deposit is capped at one month’s rent, and the park owner must give an itemized list of damages within 15 days after the lease ends or the whole deposit becomes due.", "value": { "parkMinHomes": 5, "capMonths": 1, "itemizedListDays": 15, "itemizedListFrom": "termination-or-expiration-of-lease", "interestAtHomes": 25 }, "citation": "765 ILCS 745/1, 745/12(b), 745/18", "statuteQuote": "The park owner shall furnish the tenant, within 15 days after termination or expiration of the lease, an itemized list of the damages incurred upon the premises and the estimated cost for the repair of each item. The tenant's failure to object to the itemized list within 15 days shall constitute an agreement upon the amount of damages specified therein. The park owner's failure to furnish such itemized list of damages shall constitute an agreement that no damages have been incurred upon the premises and the entire security deposit shall become immediately due and owing to the tenant.", "statuteQuoteCitation": "765 ILCS 745/18(a)", "sourceUrl": "https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/ILCS/Articles?ActID=2209&ChapterID=62", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2015-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "high", "amendedBy": "P.A. 98-1062", "notes": "Parks regularly containing 25 or more homes also owe interest on deposits held more than six months, paid in cash within 30 days after each 12-month period, and must hold deposits in trust in an insured account. Unlike the general Return Act, a tenant who gives no forwarding address excuses the park owner from sending the list. Whether the Return Act’s 30- and 45-day clocks also apply to a deposit under this act has not been decided." }, "cities": [ { "city": "Chicago", "citySlug": "chicago", "applies": true, "summary": "Chicago’s Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance adds its own deposit rules for most rentals in the city. Return the deposit, less lawful deductions, with interest, within 45 days after the tenant moves out, and send any damage statement within 30 days, with paid receipts; after a fire or casualty termination, the return is due within 7 days of the tenant’s notice. The deposit must sit in a federally insured, interest-bearing account at an Illinois institution named in the lease, with a signed receipt given when you take it. Interest is owed on any deposit held more than six months. Breaking any of these rules costs two times the deposit plus interest, with no need for the tenant to show bad faith. Chicago sets no cap on the amount.", "coverageQuestion": "Is the rental in the City of Chicago? The ordinance does not apply to a unit in an owner-occupied building of six units or fewer, or to a hotel or rooming-house stay until it has run 32 continuous days with monthly rent paid, a dormitory, a co-op unit occupied by a shareholder, or employee housing. State law still applies to those.", "interest": { "required": true, "mode": "chicago-agreement-year", "heldMoreThanMonths": 6, "annualRates": [ { "year": 1997, "ratePercent": 3.38 }, { "year": 1999, "ratePercent": 2.63 }, { "year": 2000, "ratePercent": 2.71 }, { "year": 2001, "ratePercent": 3.1 }, { "year": 2002, "ratePercent": 0.83 }, { "year": 2003, "ratePercent": 0.52 }, { "year": 2004, "ratePercent": 0.42 }, { "year": 2005, "ratePercent": 1.01 }, { "year": 2006, "ratePercent": 1.71 }, { "year": 2007, "ratePercent": 1.68 }, { "year": 2008, "ratePercent": 1.26 }, { "year": 2009, "ratePercent": 0.12 }, { "year": 2010, "ratePercent": 0.073 }, { "year": 2011, "ratePercent": 0.073 }, { "year": 2012, "ratePercent": 0.057 }, { "year": 2013, "ratePercent": 0.023 }, { "year": 2014, "ratePercent": 0.013 }, { "year": 2015, "ratePercent": 0.01 }, { "year": 2016, "ratePercent": 0.01 }, { "year": 2017, "ratePercent": 0.01 }, { "year": 2018, "ratePercent": 0.01 }, { "year": 2019, "ratePercent": 0.01 }, { "year": 2020, "ratePercent": 0.01 }, { "year": 2021, "ratePercent": 0.01 }, { "year": 2022, "ratePercent": 0.01 }, { "year": 2023, "ratePercent": 0.01 }, { "year": 2024, "ratePercent": 0.01 }, { "year": 2025, "ratePercent": 0.01 }, { "year": 2026, "ratePercent": 0.01 } ], "pendingNote": "The City Comptroller announces each year’s rate around January 1. The City’s published table has no figure for 1998, and agreements made before July 1997 carried 5%; the calculator does not compute those years." }, "returnRules": { "returnDays": 45, "statementDays": 30, "receiptsDaysAfterEstimate": 30, "computation": "state-statute-reading", "shortClocks": [ { "event": "fire-or-casualty-termination-notice", "description": "the tenant gives notice terminating the rental agreement after a fire or casualty under 5-12-110(g)", "days": 7, "note": "The ordinance says the deposit \"or any balance thereof\" is returned on this clock, so lawful deductions may still be taken; the 30-day statement rule is unchanged.", "citation": "Chicago Mun. Code 5-12-080(d), 5-12-110(g)" } ], "delivery": "deliver or mail to the last known address of the tenant", "citation": "Chicago Mun. Code 5-12-080(d)" }, "ownerOccupiedExclusionMaxUnits": 6, "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Chicago Mun. Code 5-12-010, 5-12-020, 5-12-080, 5-12-081, 5-12-082, 5-12-170, 5-12-180", "sourceUrl": "https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/chicago/latest/chicago_il/0-0-0-2639124", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "high", "notes": "The six-unit exclusion needs both conditions: the building must be owner-occupied AND have six or fewer units, counting the owner’s own unit. A non-owner-occupied two-flat, a single rented house or a rented condo is covered; the City’s own summary wrongly lists condominiums as excluded. \"Less than 5 units\" is not a Chicago rule: five units was the old state threshold, gone since 2024. The ordinance gives no start date for the 30-day statement clock; the City reads it as the move-out date, and so do we. Interest runs from the start of the rental term once the deposit has been held more than six months, at the rate for the year the agreement was made, and is paid within 30 days after each 12-month period with no minimum amount. If you pay interest on time but get the amount wrong, the tenant must give you written notice and you have 14 days to pay the difference plus $50 or explain your calculation; late or missing interest gets no such cure (Faison v. RTFX, Inc., 2014 IL App (1st) 121893). The double damages are owed without proof of willfulness (Lawrence v. Regent Realty Group, Inc., 197 Ill. 2d 1 (2001)), are one award per deposit however many rules were broken (Plambeck v. Greystone Management, 281 Ill. App. 3d 260 (1996); Krawczyk v. Livaditis, 366 Ill. App. 3d 375 (2006)), go only to the tenant who paid the deposit, and must be claimed within two years. Every new lease and renewal must have the City’s ordinance summary and the current year’s deposit-interest summary attached. A Chicago landlord whose property has 25 or more units in one building or a complex on contiguous parcels may also owe interest under the state Act; on our reading paying the higher of the two figures satisfies the amount under both, though each rule keeps its own payment schedule." }, { "city": "Suburban Cook County", "citySlug": "cook-county", "applies": true, "summary": "Cook County’s Residential Tenant and Landlord Ordinance covers rentals in suburban Cook County and unincorporated areas, except towns with their own qualifying ordinance (Chicago, Evanston and Mount Prospect, and on our reading Northlake and Oak Park). It caps the deposit at one and a half months’ rent, lets the tenant pay the part above one month in up to six installments within six months, and requires the deposit, less lawful deductions, back within 30 days after the tenant moves out, with any damage statement and paid receipts in the same 30 days. The deposit must sit in a federally insured Illinois account named in the lease, with a signed receipt. Breaking the cap, installment or return rules costs two times the deposit plus attorney fees; the codified text joins the three with \"and\", the ordinance as enacted has no conjunction, the County reads it as any one of them, and no court has decided it.", "coverageQuestion": "Is the rental in suburban or unincorporated Cook County, outside Chicago, Evanston and Mount Prospect, and, on our reading, outside Northlake and Oak Park? The ordinance does not apply to an owner-occupied building of six units or fewer, or to a single house or condo the owner personally manages, that the owner or an immediate family member lived in for at least a month in the year before marketing it, that is owned other than through a corporation, and that is the only unit the owner rents.", "interest": { "required": false, "mode": "none" }, "cap": { "capMonths": 1.5, "covers": "deposit-only", "antiRelabeling": true, "notes": "The installment option is the tenant’s election: up to six equal installments, finished within six months of the lease’s effective date. A refundable pet deposit is a \"security deposit\" under the ordinance’s definition and counts toward the cap, on our reading." }, "returnRules": { "returnDays": 30, "statementDays": 30, "receiptsDaysAfterEstimate": 30, "computation": "own-ordinance", "computationCitation": "Cook County Code 1-3", "shortClocks": [ { "event": "failure-to-deliver-possession-termination", "description": "the tenant terminates by written notice because the landlord failed to deliver possession", "hours": 48, "note": "The ordinance says \"all security deposits\"; whether any deduction may be taken on this clock has not been decided.", "citation": "Cook County Code 42-105(e)(1)a" }, { "event": "fire-or-casualty-termination-notice", "description": "the rental agreement is terminated after a fire or casualty", "hours": 48, "note": "The ordinance says \"all security deposit\" and dates the termination to the fire itself; counting the 48 hours from the tenant’s notice is our reading, and whether any deduction may be taken on this clock has not been decided.", "citation": "Cook County Code 42-106(f)(4)" }, { "event": "retaliation-termination-possession-tendered", "description": "the tenant terminates for retaliation and tenders possession", "days": 3, "citation": "Cook County Code 42-112(b)(2)" }, { "event": "material-noncompliance-termination-possession-tendered", "description": "the tenant terminates for material noncompliance or loss of essential services and tenders possession", "noFixedPeriod": true, "citation": "Cook County Code 42-106(c)(1), (e)(2) (\"immediately\")" } ], "delivery": "deliver or mail to the last known address of the tenant", "citation": "Cook County Code 42-111(c)" }, "ownerOccupiedExclusionMaxUnits": 6, "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Cook County Code 42-101, 42-102, 42-103, 42-111, 42-114", "sourceUrl": "https://library.municode.com/il/cook_county/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIGEOR_CH42HURE_ARTIVRETELAOR", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "high", "notes": "Thirty days is shorter than the state’s 45, and inside suburban Cook County it governs. The 1.5-month cap applies however a charge is labelled. The account rules, the receipt, the bank disclosure and the transfer notices are \"administrative\": if you break one, the tenant must give written notice and you have two business days to fix it before the two-times penalty applies; a missing receipt also entitles the tenant to immediate return of the deposit (42-111(h)). The cap, installment and return rules have no cure period. The codified text lists the penalty for breaking \"subsections 42-111(a), 42-111(b), and 42-111(c)\", but the ordinance as enacted had no \"and\", and the County’s own summary reads it as any one of the three; no court has decided it. There is no interest duty in the County ordinance; the state Interest Act still applies to buildings of 25 or more units. Every written lease and renewal must have the County’s summary attached; the remedy for leaving it out is the tenant’s right to terminate by written notice, not the double penalty (42-114, 42-110(i)). The County’s own 2021 handout lists only Chicago, Evanston and Mount Prospect as outside the ordinance; Northlake and Oak Park adopted their own ordinances, which on our reading take them outside too, and whether Schaumburg’s rental code qualifies is unsettled." }, { "city": "Evanston", "citySlug": "evanston", "applies": true, "summary": "Evanston caps the security deposit and any prepaid rent together at one and a half months’ rent. Within 21 days after the tenant moves out, you must deliver the itemized written notice of what you are keeping together with the money due, tied with Northlake for the shortest general deadline we have read in Illinois. If the tenancy ended because you failed to restore essential services after the tenant’s 7-day notice, it is 48 hours after that notice expired. Breaking the return rule costs the money due plus twice the amount wrongfully withheld, plus attorney fees.", "coverageQuestion": "Is the rental in the City of Evanston? The chapter covers every rental in the city except institutional residence, a purchaser under a contract of sale, a social or fraternal organization’s building, a transient hotel or motel stay, a co-op unit occupied by a shareholder, and a licensed shared housing facility. There is no exception for owner-occupied or small buildings.", "interest": { "required": false, "mode": "none" }, "cap": { "capMonths": 1.5, "covers": "deposit-plus-prepaid-rent", "antiRelabeling": true, "notes": "Rent paid in advance for the current month does not count, but a \"last month’s rent\" taken up front does: a one-month deposit plus last month’s rent is over the cap. The part above one month may be paid in up to six equal installments within six months, at the tenant’s election." }, "returnRules": { "returnDays": 21, "statementAndMoneyTogether": true, "computation": "own-ordinance", "computationCitation": "Evanston City Code 1-3-2", "shortClocks": [ { "event": "essential-services-notice-expired", "description": "the tenancy ended because essential services were not restored within the tenant’s 7-day notice", "hours": 48, "note": "The ordinance says the whole of its return rule, the itemized notice and the money together, is performed within the 48 hours.", "citation": "Evanston City Code 5-3-5-1(B), 5-3-7-4(A)(1)" } ], "delivery": "a written notice delivered to the tenant together with the amount due", "citation": "Evanston City Code 5-3-5-1(B)" }, "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Evanston City Code 5-3-1, 5-3-2, 5-3-5-1", "sourceUrl": "https://library.municode.com/il/evanston/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT5HORE_CH3HOPRTERE", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "high", "notes": "Only accrued rent and damage from the tenant’s breach of their maintenance duties may be deducted; an Illinois appellate court held that an unpaid utility bill owed only under the lease could not be, that \"TBD\" is not an itemization, and that the notice needs specific dollar amounts inside the 21 days (Nadhir v. Salomon, 2011 IL App (1st) 110851). Evanston repealed its deposit-interest rule and its interest-bearing account rule on January 1, 2025; the City’s own 311 page still says Evanston uses Chicago’s rate, but the code no longer requires interest. Every lease must come with the City’s summary of the chapter." }, { "city": "Mount Prospect", "citySlug": "mount-prospect", "applies": true, "summary": "Mount Prospect has its own landlord-tenant regulations, so the Cook County ordinance does not apply there. To keep any part of the deposit, send a written notice of the reasons, with itemized statements of unpaid rent and damage and the paid receipts or estimates, within 30 days after the tenant moves out, by certified mail with a return receipt or by personal service. Without that notice, the whole deposit is due within 45 days. Painting and rug shampooing are not damage unless the lease makes them part of the tenant’s cleaning duties.", "interest": { "required": false, "mode": "none" }, "returnRules": { "returnDays": 45, "statementDays": 30, "balanceDateIsReading": true, "receiptsDaysAfterEstimate": 30, "computation": "state-statute-reading", "delivery": "certified mail, receipt requested, or personal service", "citation": "Mount Prospect Village Code 23.1806(A)(2), (A)(4)" }, "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Mount Prospect Village Code ch. 23, art. XVIII, 23.1806", "sourceUrl": "https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/mtprospectl/latest/mtprospect_il/0-0-0-16113", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "high", "notes": "If either party asked for a walk-through inspection, the notice must include the inspection checklist showing the damage happened during the tenancy. A receipt is required only if the tenant asks. Mount Prospect sets no cap, and its interest rule simply repeats the state Act’s (25 or more units). The village states no fixed penalty; a court decides the damages, costs and fees." }, { "city": "Oak Park", "citySlug": "oak-park", "applies": true, "summary": "Oak Park adopted its own Residential Tenant and Landlord Ordinance in 2021, closely modelled on Cook County’s. A landlord may take a security deposit or a one-time non-refundable move-in fee of up to $500, never both. The deposit may not exceed one and a half months’ rent and must be returned, less lawful deductions, within 30 days after the tenant moves out. Breaking the deposit-or-fee rule, the cap, the installment rule or the 30-day return costs two times the deposit plus attorney fees, with no cure period; the text lists those rules without a conjunction, and no court has read it. An older Oak Park rule also requires interest on deposits in buildings of four or more units.", "coverageQuestion": "Is the rental in the Village of Oak Park? The ordinance does not apply to an owner-occupied building of six units or fewer, or to a single house or condo that is the only unit the owner rents, that the owner or an immediate family member lived in for at least a month in the year before marketing it, that the owner (not a management company) personally manages, and that is not owned by a corporation. The Village’s separate deposit-interest article has a scope of its own and still applies to a building of four or more units.", "interest": { "required": true, "outsideExclusions": true, "mode": "state-benchmark", "heldMoreThanMonths": 6, "unitThreshold": 4, "payoutDays": 30, "pendingNote": "Oak Park uses the state Interest Act’s benchmark rate for buildings of four or more units, paid within 30 days after each 12-month rental period and within 30 days of the end of the lease; the rate must be stated in the lease, and public housing is excluded." }, "cap": { "capMonths": 1.5, "covers": "deposit-only", "antiRelabeling": true, "moveInFeeInsteadOfDepositMaxUsd": 500, "notes": "The ordinance’s deposit sentence reads \"no less than one month’s rent or in an amount no greater than one and one-half months’ rent\"; we publish only the ceiling." }, "returnRules": { "returnDays": 30, "statementDays": 30, "receiptsDaysAfterEstimate": 30, "computation": "state-statute-reading", "shortClocks": [ { "event": "retaliation-termination-possession-tendered", "description": "the tenant terminates for retaliation and tenders possession", "days": 3, "citation": "Oak Park Village Code 12-6-12(B)(2)" } ], "delivery": "deliver or mail to the last known address of the tenant", "citation": "Oak Park Village Code 12-6-11(C)" }, "ownerOccupiedExclusionMaxUnits": 6, "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Oak Park Village Code 12-6-11; 12-4-1 to 12-4-5", "sourceUrl": "https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/oakparkil/latest/oakpark_il/0-0-0-20167", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "high", "notes": "Whether Oak Park’s ordinance takes it outside the County ordinance has not been decided; the Village says it adopted its ordinance to help residents enforce the County’s, and the two read almost identically, so the rules above are the same either way except for Oak Park’s move-in fee rule and its older interest rule. How the older article (four or more units, a 45-day fallback) fits with the 2021 article (30 days) is not settled; meet the 30 days." }, { "city": "Northlake", "citySlug": "northlake", "applies": true, "summary": "Northlake has its own tenant-landlord ordinance, which on our reading takes it outside the Cook County ordinance. It caps the deposit at one and a half months’ rent however the charge is labelled, including a \"move-in\" fee, requires a federally insured interest-bearing Illinois account and a signed receipt, and requires the deposit, less unpaid rent and itemized damage, back within 21 days after the tenant moves out. Breaking any of its deposit rules costs two times the deposit plus attorney fees.", "coverageQuestion": "Is the rental in the City of Northlake? The ordinance does not apply to an owner-occupied building of six units or fewer.", "interest": { "required": false, "mode": "none" }, "cap": { "capMonths": 1.5, "covers": "deposit-only", "antiRelabeling": true }, "returnRules": { "returnDays": 21, "statementDays": 30, "computation": "state-statute-reading", "citation": "Northlake City Code 8-18-6(C)(7)(i)" }, "ownerOccupiedExclusionMaxUnits": 6, "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Northlake City Code ch. 8-18 (Ord. O-20-2020), 8-18-2(A), 8-18-6(C)(7)", "sourceUrl": "https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/northlakeil/latest/northlake_il/0-0-0-15872", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "high", "notes": "The ordinance also gives 30 days for the itemized damage statement but 21 days for the money, and does not reconcile the two; send both within 21 days. It requires an interest-bearing account but no clause pays that interest to the tenant; a missing deposit receipt entitles the tenant to immediate return of the deposit (8-18-6(C)(7)(g)). Northlake adopted its ordinance in December 2020, before the County’s." }, { "city": "Oak Lawn", "citySlug": "oak-lawn", "applies": true, "summary": "Oak Lawn is under the Cook County ordinance, and adds its own interest rule: 0.01% a year on any residential deposit held more than one year, payable only if the tenant complied with the lease; where damage exceeds the deposit the interest may be applied to it, and for a lease of two years or less it is paid within 30 days after the term on an inspection finding no damage beyond ordinary use.", "interest": { "required": true, "mode": "fixed-rate", "heldMoreThanMonths": 12, "fixedRatePercent": 0.01, "pendingNote": "Payable within 30 days after the end of a lease of two years or less, after inspection; for longer leases, every two years and at the end; and within 30 days of a renewal for a lease over six months." }, "layersOn": "cook-county", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Oak Lawn Village Code 3-1-7-3", "sourceUrl": "https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/oaklawnil/latest/oaklawn_il/0-0-0-2239", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "high", "notes": "The rule sits in the village’s business-licensing title, where landlords seldom look. If the tenant breaks any term of the lease, the landlord may keep the interest." }, { "city": "Urbana", "citySlug": "urbana", "applies": true, "summary": "Urbana requires interest on any deposit of $100 or more held more than six months, with no unit threshold, paid within 30 days after each 12-month period. Its return rule is the pre-2018 state version: an itemized statement within 30 days of the move-out date, delivered in person or by mail (no email), otherwise the full deposit within 45 days. Painting and carpet cleaning after move-out are not damage unless walls or carpets are damaged beyond normal wear.", "interest": { "required": true, "mode": "note-only", "heldMoreThanMonths": 6, "minimumDepositCents": 10000, "pendingNote": "The rate is the minimum-deposit passbook savings rate of the largest commercial bank by assets with its main banking premises in Champaign County, as of June 30 before the lease began. Federal banking data points to Busey Bank in Champaign, but no one publishes that June 30 rate, so ask the bank; the calculator does not compute Urbana interest." }, "returnRules": { "returnDays": 45, "statementDays": 30, "balanceDateIsReading": true, "receiptsDaysAfterEstimate": 30, "computation": "state-statute-reading", "shortClocks": [ { "event": "city-ordered-vacate-date", "description": "the City orders the unit vacated because of conditions the landlord caused", "days": 3, "beforeEvent": true, "note": "Urbana counts the refund of the deposit as part of the relocation assistance owed on a City-ordered vacate; where the City gives three days or less to vacate, it is due within one day of the City’s notice instead (12.5-47(c), 12.5-48).", "citation": "Urbana City Code 12.5-47 to 12.5-49" } ], "delivery": "delivered in person or by mail directed to the last known address", "citation": "Urbana City Code 12.5-20(a)" }, "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Urbana City Code 12.5-19, 12.5-20, 12.5-10(a)(8), 12.5-47 to 12.5-49", "sourceUrl": "https://library.municode.com/il/urbana/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=COOR_CH12.5LANARE", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "high", "notes": "Urbana’s clock runs from the move-out date only, so a landlord relying on the state’s later \"right of possession\" date or on email may still miss the city deadline; meet the stricter rule. Lease fees above the landlord’s actual costs are barred. Urbana’s code online is codified only through June 25, 2025." }, { "city": "DeKalb", "citySlug": "dekalb", "applies": true, "summary": "DeKalb restates the state return rule in its own code for rental units in the city (institutions, transient lodging and state, federal and housing-authority property excepted): an itemized statement with receipts within 30 days of the move-out date, delivered in person, by mail or by email, or the full deposit within 45 days. A tenant may require a joint move-out inspection.", "interest": { "required": false, "mode": "none" }, "returnRules": { "returnDays": 45, "statementDays": 30, "balanceDateIsReading": true, "receiptsDaysAfterEstimate": 30, "computation": "state-statute-reading", "delivery": "delivered in person, by mail directed to the tenant’s last known address, or by electronic mail", "citation": "DeKalb Municipal Code 10.14(a)" }, "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "DeKalb Municipal Code ch. 10 (10.10(b), 10.12, 10.14)", "sourceUrl": "https://www.cityofdekalb.com/DocumentCenter/View/118/Chapter-10-Landlord-Tenant-Regulations-102422", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "high", "notes": "DeKalb’s code says a selling landlord is released from deposit liability once the tenant is told the buyer took it over; state law keeps the seller jointly liable (765 ILCS 710/1.1), so do not rely on the city provision. Holding deposits and application fees are refundable unless the refund terms were given in writing." }, { "city": "Peoria", "citySlug": "peoria", "applies": true, "summary": "Peoria has no general deposit rule. One narrow provision: if a tenant ends the lease because the landlord retaliated against them, the landlord must return all security, any interest and all prepaid rent.", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Peoria Code 5-294(c), 20-209(c)", "sourceUrl": "https://library.municode.com/il/peoria/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=CO_CH5BUBURE_ARTVIPRMACO_DIV2ADEN_S5-294REEVOW", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Outside that case, state law is the whole answer in Peoria." }, { "city": "Aurora", "citySlug": "aurora", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Aurora code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. State law is the whole answer.", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Aurora code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://aurora-il.municipalcodeonline.com/book?type=ordinances", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read. Aurora’s landlord-tenant article covers background checks and crime-free lease wording only." }, { "city": "Joliet", "citySlug": "joliet", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Joliet code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. State law is the whole answer.", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Joliet code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://library.municode.com/il/joliet/codes/code_of_ordinances", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read." }, { "city": "Naperville", "citySlug": "naperville", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Naperville code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. State law is the whole answer.", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Naperville code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://library.municode.com/il/naperville/codes/code_of_ordinances", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read." }, { "city": "Rockford", "citySlug": "rockford", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Rockford code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. State law is the whole answer. Rockford’s online code was codified only through December 2024 when we searched it, so a newer ordinance could be missing from it.", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Rockford code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://library.municode.com/il/rockford/codes/code_of_ordinances", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read." }, { "city": "Elgin", "citySlug": "elgin", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Elgin code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. State law is the whole answer. That is true of the Kane County part of Elgin; in the part that lies in Cook County, the County ordinance applies with its 30-day return and one-and-a-half-month cap.", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Elgin code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://library.municode.com/il/elgin/codes/code_of_ordinances", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read." }, { "city": "Springfield", "citySlug": "springfield", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Springfield code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. State law is the whole answer.", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Springfield code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://library.municode.com/il/springfield/codes/code_of_ordinances", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read." }, { "city": "Champaign", "citySlug": "champaign", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Champaign code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. State law is the whole answer.", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Champaign code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://library.municode.com/il/champaign/codes/code_of_ordinances", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read. Champaign has no landlord-tenant chapter; Urbana, next door, does." }, { "city": "Waukegan", "citySlug": "waukegan", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Waukegan code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. State law is the whole answer.", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Waukegan code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://library.municode.com/il/waukegan/codes/code_of_ordinances", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read." }, { "city": "Cicero", "citySlug": "cicero", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Cicero code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. The Cook County ordinance applies here, so its 30-day return and one-and-a-half-month cap govern unless the rental falls within one of the County’s exclusions, such as an owner-occupied building of six units or fewer.", "layersOn": "cook-county", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Cicero code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://library.municode.com/il/cicero/codes/code_of_ordinances", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read." }, { "city": "Bloomington", "citySlug": "bloomington", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Bloomington code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. State law is the whole answer.", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Bloomington code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://ecode360.com/34402586", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read." }, { "city": "Normal", "citySlug": "normal", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Normal code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. State law is the whole answer.", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Normal code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://normal.municipalcodeonline.com/book?type=ordinances", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read. Normal’s 2023 tenant notice ordinance covers landlord entry only." }, { "city": "Arlington Heights", "citySlug": "arlington-heights", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Arlington Heights code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. The Cook County ordinance applies here, so its 30-day return and one-and-a-half-month cap govern unless the rental falls within one of the County’s exclusions, such as an owner-occupied building of six units or fewer.", "layersOn": "cook-county", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Arlington Heights code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://library.municode.com/il/arlington_heights/codes/municipal_code", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read." }, { "city": "Schaumburg", "citySlug": "schaumburg", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Schaumburg code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. The Cook County ordinance applies here, so its 30-day return and one-and-a-half-month cap govern unless the rental falls within one of the County’s exclusions, such as an owner-occupied building of six units or fewer. Schaumburg has a rental operation and crime-free code; whether that is a landlord-tenant ordinance that takes the village outside the County ordinance is not settled, so we apply the County’s rules, which are the stricter answer.", "layersOn": "cook-county", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Schaumburg code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://library.municode.com/il/schaumburg/codes/code_of_ordinances", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read." }, { "city": "Bolingbrook", "citySlug": "bolingbrook", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Bolingbrook code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. State law is the whole answer.", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Bolingbrook code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://library.municode.com/il/bolingbrook/codes/code_of_ordinances", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read." }, { "city": "Decatur", "citySlug": "decatur", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Decatur code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. State law is the whole answer.", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Decatur code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://decaturil.gov/159/City-Code", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "We downloaded Decatur’s full code (amended July 2026) and searched it for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\" and \"prepaid rent\"." }, { "city": "Palatine", "citySlug": "palatine", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Palatine code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. The Cook County ordinance applies here, so its 30-day return and one-and-a-half-month cap govern unless the rental falls within one of the County’s exclusions, such as an owner-occupied building of six units or fewer.", "layersOn": "cook-county", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Palatine code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://library.municode.com/il/palatine/codes/code_of_ordinances", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read." }, { "city": "Skokie", "citySlug": "skokie", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Skokie code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. The Cook County ordinance applies here, so its 30-day return and one-and-a-half-month cap govern unless the rental falls within one of the County’s exclusions, such as an owner-occupied building of six units or fewer.", "layersOn": "cook-county", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Skokie code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://library.municode.com/il/skokie/codes/code_of_ordinances", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read." }, { "city": "Des Plaines", "citySlug": "des-plaines", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Des Plaines code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. The Cook County ordinance applies here, so its 30-day return and one-and-a-half-month cap govern unless the rental falls within one of the County’s exclusions, such as an owner-occupied building of six units or fewer.", "layersOn": "cook-county", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Des Plaines code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/desplainesil/latest/overview", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read." }, { "city": "Carbondale", "citySlug": "carbondale", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Carbondale code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. State law is the whole answer.", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Carbondale code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/carbondaleil/latest/overview", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read. Carbondale’s housing code requires a lease addendum listing fees, but sets no deposit rule." }, { "city": "Berwyn", "citySlug": "berwyn", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Berwyn code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. The Cook County ordinance applies here, so its 30-day return and one-and-a-half-month cap govern unless the rental falls within one of the County’s exclusions, such as an owner-occupied building of six units or fewer.", "layersOn": "cook-county", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Berwyn code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/berwyn/latest/overview", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read." }, { "city": "Wheaton", "citySlug": "wheaton", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Wheaton code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. State law is the whole answer.", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Wheaton code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://library.municode.com/il/wheaton/codes/code_of_ordinances", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read." }, { "city": "Downers Grove", "citySlug": "downers-grove", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Downers Grove code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. State law is the whole answer.", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Downers Grove code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://downersgrove.municipalcodeonline.com/", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read." }, { "city": "Orland Park", "citySlug": "orland-park", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Orland Park code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. The Cook County ordinance applies here, so its 30-day return and one-and-a-half-month cap govern unless the rental falls within one of the County’s exclusions, such as an owner-occupied building of six units or fewer. A small part of Orland Park lies in Will County, outside the County ordinance.", "layersOn": "cook-county", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Orland Park code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/orlandpark/latest/overview", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read." }, { "city": "Tinley Park", "citySlug": "tinley-park", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Tinley Park code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. The Cook County ordinance applies here, so its 30-day return and one-and-a-half-month cap govern unless the rental falls within one of the County’s exclusions, such as an owner-occupied building of six units or fewer. Part of Tinley Park lies in Will County, outside the County ordinance.", "layersOn": "cook-county", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Tinley Park code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/tinleypark/latest/overview", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read." }, { "city": "Moline", "citySlug": "moline", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Moline code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. State law is the whole answer.", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Moline code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/moline/latest/overview", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read." }, { "city": "Rock Island", "citySlug": "rock-island", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Rock Island code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. State law is the whole answer.", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Rock Island code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/rockislandil/latest/overview", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read." }, { "city": "Quincy", "citySlug": "quincy", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Quincy code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. State law is the whole answer.", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Quincy code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/quincy/latest/overview", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read." }, { "city": "Highland Park", "citySlug": "highland-park", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Highland Park code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. State law is the whole answer.", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Highland Park code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://library.municode.com/il/highland_park/codes/code_of_ordinances", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read." }, { "city": "Macomb", "citySlug": "macomb", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Macomb code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. State law is the whole answer.", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Macomb code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://library.municode.com/il/macomb/codes/code_of_ordinances", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read." }, { "city": "Charleston", "citySlug": "charleston", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Charleston code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. State law is the whole answer.", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Charleston code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/charlestonil/latest/overview", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read." }, { "city": "Edwardsville", "citySlug": "edwardsville", "applies": false, "summary": "We searched the Edwardsville code and found no city rule on residential security deposits: no cap, no return deadline and no interest duty. State law is the whole answer.", "checkedFor": [ "interest", "cap", "deadline", "itemization" ], "citation": "Edwardsville code (no deposit provision found)", "sourceUrl": "https://library.municode.com/il/edwardsville/codes/code_of_ordinances", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "Searched with the code publisher’s own full-text search for \"security deposit\", \"landlord\", \"prepaid rent\" and related terms, and every hit was read." } ], "localLaw": { "preempted": false, "summary": "Illinois does not stop cities and counties from adding deposit rules, and several have. We read the ordinances of Chicago, suburban Cook County, Evanston, Mount Prospect, Oak Park, Northlake, Oak Lawn, Urbana and DeKalb, found one narrow rule in Peoria, and searched the codes of 31 more of the state’s larger cities and college towns and found no deposit rule in them. Cook County’s ordinance covers every suburban town in the county that has no qualifying ordinance of its own. Three small towns, East St. Louis, University Park and Calumet Park, have deposit rules in codes that have not been updated online for six to eleven years, so we cannot confirm they are still in force. Everywhere else we have not read the code, and state law is the answer as far as we know.", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25" }, "sources": [ { "label": "Security Deposit Return Act, 765 ILCS 710 (Illinois General Assembly)", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/ILCS/Articles?ActID=2202&ChapterID=62" }, { "label": "765 ILCS 710/1, the statement, the 45-day refund and the penalty", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/076507100K1.htm" }, { "label": "P.A. 103-224 (SB1741): the end of the five-unit threshold, January 1, 2024", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/PublicActs/View/103-0224" }, { "label": "Security Deposit Interest Act, 765 ILCS 715", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/ILCS/Articles?ActID=2203&ChapterID=62" }, { "label": "IDFPR notice of the 2026 Interest Act rate", "url": "https://idfpr.illinois.gov/news/2026/interest-rates-affecting-security-deposit-act.html" }, { "label": "5 ILCS 70/1.11, computation of time", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/000500700K1.11.htm" }, { "label": "Landlord and Tenant Act, 765 ILCS 705 (incl. 705/35 from 2027)", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/ILCS/Articles?ActID=2201&ChapterID=62" }, { "label": "Mobile Home Landlord and Tenant Rights Act, 765 ILCS 745", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/ILCS/Articles?ActID=2209&ChapterID=62" }, { "label": "Electric Vehicle Charging Act, 765 ILCS 1085", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/ILCS/Articles?ActID=4407&ChapterID=62" }, { "label": "Real Estate License Act of 2000, 225 ILCS 454/1-10 (escrow moneys)", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/022504540K1-10.htm" }, { "label": "Illinois Human Rights Act, 775 ILCS 5/3-102.1", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/077500050K3-102.1.htm" }, { "label": "Verhaeg v. McElligott, 2026 IL App (5th) 250731", "url": "https://www.illinoiscourts.gov/resources/393a814e-e3c4-4a6e-9dd5-76d82386d55e/file" }, { "label": "Chicago Municipal Code 5-12-080 (security deposits)", "url": "https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/chicago/latest/chicago_il/0-0-0-2639124" }, { "label": "City of Chicago, security deposit interest rate notice (Department of Finance)", "url": "https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/fin/supp_info/interest_rate_onrentalsecuritydeposits.html" }, { "label": "Cook County Code of Ordinances, Chapter 42, Article IV (Residential Tenant and Landlord Ordinance)", "url": "https://library.municode.com/il/cook_county/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIGEOR_CH42HURE_ARTIVRETELAOR" }, { "label": "Evanston City Code, Title 5, Chapter 3", "url": "https://library.municode.com/il/evanston/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT5HORE_CH3HOPRTERE" } ], "pendingLegislation": [ { "label": "P.A. 104-479 (HB3564), new 765 ILCS 705/35, in force January 1, 2027", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/PublicActs/View/104-0479", "status": "enacted-not-in-force", "effectiveDate": "2027-01-01", "note": "A fee law, not a deposit law. For leases entered into after January 1, 2027 (owner-occupied buildings of six or fewer units excepted), every non-optional fee must appear on the first page of the lease or the tenant is not liable for it, and eleven kinds of fees are banned or limited, including fees for routine maintenance and for a move-in or move-out walk-through. It does not cap deposits and it does not ban move-in fees: earlier drafts did, and the Senate took that out before it passed.", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25" }, { "label": "Chicago SO2026-0026554, the Mayor’s \"Protecting Renters Ordinance\" (pending)", "url": "https://api.chicityclerkelms.chicago.gov/matter/recordNumber/SO2026-0026554", "status": "pending", "citySlug": "chicago", "note": "Not law. A rewrite of Chicago’s ordinance that would, from January 1, 2027 if passed, cap deposits at one month’s rent, end deposit interest, ban move-in fees and most other fees, and apply its return, damages and cap rules and its fee limits to owner-occupied buildings of six or fewer units. A rival \"Fair and Accountable Illinois Rental Ordinance\" (SO2026-0027202) would instead cap deposits at one and a half months’ rent, end deposit interest and allow a move-in fee reasonably related to the landlord’s estimated move-in costs, from July 1, 2027. The City Council deferred both on September 23, 2026; its next meetings are December 8 and 9, 2026. Until one passes, the current rules on this page are the law.", "lastVerified": "2026-10-25" } ] } }