Illinois Security Deposit Law Changes: 2024, 2026 and 2027

Most of what is written about Illinois security deposits describes the law as it stood before January 1, 2024, when the Return Act reached only residential property containing five or more units. It now reaches every residential landlord, the statement clock has a second trigger, an appellate court has said what a late statement costs, a fee law takes effect in 2027, and Chicago has two rewrites of its ordinance pending. Here is each change, dated and tied to the law that made it, and what is still only proposed. Verified against the enacting acts and opinions October 25, 2026.

What changed, at a glance

When	What	Where
January 1, 2016	Interest Act: the annual payment is owed once unpaid interest reaches $5; everything unpaid is due at termination	765 ILCS 715/2 (P.A. 99-253)
2018	Return Act: lease-specified cleaning and repair amounts; a fallback when receipts cannot be had; the address shield; the 45-day delivery clause	765 ILCS 710/1 (P.A. 100-269, 100-654)
December 2020 to July 2021	Northlake, Cook County and Oak Park adopt tenant-landlord ordinances with 21- or 30-day returns and one-and-a-half-month caps	Local codes
January 1, 2024	Return Act covers every residential landlord; statement due 30 days from the later of move-out and the end of the right of possession	765 ILCS 710/1(a) (P.A. 103-224)
January 1, 2025	Evanston repeals its deposit-interest rule	Evanston City Code 5-3-5-1 (Ord. 52-O-24)
September 25, 2026	Appellate court: a late statement means the entire deposit back; the double penalty needs more than lateness	Verhaeg v. McElligott, 2026 IL App (5th) 250731
January 1, 2027	Fee law: non-optional fees on page one of the lease; eleven fees banned or limited; no deposit cap, no move-in fee ban	765 ILCS 705/35 (P.A. 104-479)
Pending	Chicago: two rewrites, one-month or one-and-a-half-month cap, both ending interest	SO2026-0026554; SO2026-0027202

January 1, 2024: every landlord, and a second trigger

Public Act 103-224 made two changes to section 1 of the Security Deposit Return Act, and both are visible in the act’s own markup: struck text and underlined text.

The five-unit threshold is gone. The Act used to apply to “a lessor of residential real property, containing 5 or more units”. The amendment struck the words “containing 5 or more units”. A landlord with one rented condo is now under the Act, with the same 30-day statement duty, the same receipts rule and the same consequences as a 500-unit owner. The Illinois Attorney General’s fact sheet, the University of Illinois student legal service, and most landlord software guides still state the old threshold; the Attorney General’s PDF was last modified in May 2026 and still carries the January 2024 text.
The statement clock gained a second trigger. The itemized statement is now due “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”. A tenant who moves out mid-month with a lease or a notice period running to the end of the month has not started the statement clock until the end of the month. The 45-day full-refund clock was not amended and still runs from the move-out date alone, so when possession runs more than 15 days past move-out the two clocks cross and day 45 lands before day 30 of the statement clock, a case the text does not resolve.

Leases signed before 2024. The Act applies to leases executed on or after its 1974 effective date, and the 2024 amendment carries no applicability clause. Whether a small landlord whose lease predates 2024 is covered has not been decided; on our reading the Act applies to any withholding after January 1, 2024 whatever the lease date, because the General Assembly writes a lease-date limit when it means one.

September 2026: what a late statement costs

Verhaeg v. McElligott is the first published appellate decision on the Act in years, and it settles the question most landlords ask: what happens when the statement is late. The tenants paid a $1,400 deposit, their lease ended May 31, 2024, and they moved out six days early. The landlord sent an itemized letter and a $447 check on September 21, listing $771 for damage and $282 for unpaid utilities. The trial court found real damage, no bad faith, and ruled for the landlord. The Fifth District reversed on the deposit: “the landlord must return the entire security deposit if the tenant proves that the Act was not complied with”, and the landlord’s remedy for the damage is a separate suit. The tenants recovered all $953.

On the double penalty the court was equally clear the other way. It needs two factors, both of them: a refusal to supply the statement, or a statement supplied in bad faith, and a failure to return the amount due within the time limits. “The act of refusal requires more than mere noncompliance”, and bad faith means conduct that is vexatious, unreasonable or outrageous. The court also held that the Act does not shift the burden of proof to the landlord, and that the subsection allowing a landlord who cannot get receipts to substitute other evidence does not extend the 30 days for the statement.

The opinion was filed September 25, 2026. By November 9, 2026 the Illinois courts’ site listed it as released, its text unchanged, which is the status the site gives an opinion once the appellate court no longer has jurisdiction over the case. The window for a petition to the Illinois Supreme Court ran to about October 30, 2026, and whether one was filed is not yet public. We cite it with that caveat and watch the Supreme Court’s lists. One caution in reading it: the opinion paraphrases the statement clock as running from vacating, because the right-of-possession trigger was not in issue; it is not authority for a single-trigger clock.

January 1, 2027: the fee law

Public Act 104-479 adds section 35 to the Landlord and Tenant Act, and a second act moved its effective date from July 1, 2026 to January 1, 2027. For leases entered into after that date, with owner-occupied buildings of six units or fewer excepted:

Every non-optional fee goes on the first page of the lease, one-time or recurring, or the tenant is not liable for it. Listings must disclose fees too, and whether utilities are included.
Eleven kinds of fees are banned or limited: an application fee over $50 (with an exception for a third-party background check), lease renewal and modification fees, eviction-notice fees, after-hours maintenance fees, fees for routine maintenance and upkeep, pest fees where the tenant did not contribute to the problem, and a fee or fine for an in-person walk-through at move-in or move-out, among others.
A landlord may not rename a fee to avoid the section, and tenants may sue for injunctive relief, money, attorney fees and costs. Home-rule units may regulate fees but must restrict them at least as much as the section does.

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.

Chicago: two rewrites pending, neither law

Two ordinances before the Chicago City Council would rewrite the city’s deposit rules, and they disagree. Both were “deferred and published” on September 23, 2026 with no final action; the Council next meets on December 8 and 9, 2026.

The Mayor’s “Protecting Renters Ordinance” (SO2026-0026554), from January 1, 2027 if passed: a deposit may not exceed one month’s rent; deposit interest ends, with accrued interest returned at the end of the tenancy or at renewal; a tenant may be required to pay only rent, a deposit, up to one month’s prepaid rent and a short list of fees, so move-in fees would be banned; the damages subsection is replaced by fines and a two-times award for failure to return; and the return and cap rules reach owner-occupied buildings of six units or fewer, which the current ordinance excludes.
The “Fair and Accountable Illinois Rental Ordinance” (SO2026-0027202), from July 1, 2027 if passed: a cap of one and a half months’ rent; deposit interest ends; a two-times award only for failure to return the deposit; move-in fees allowed if reasonably related to the landlord’s costs.

Until one passes, the current ordinance is the law: no cap, interest at the Comptroller’s rate, 45 days to return, two times the deposit plus interest for any violation. The Chicago deposit law guide covers it, and this site watches the City Clerk’s records for both ordinances.

Local changes since 2020

Northlake, December 2020. A full tenant-landlord ordinance: a one-and-a-half-month cap counting any “move-in” fee, an interest-bearing Illinois account, a signed receipt, the deposit back within 21 days after the tenant vacates, and two times the deposit plus attorney fees for any violation. Because it predates the County’s ordinance and meets the County’s test for a qualifying local ordinance, Northlake is outside the County ordinance, on our reading, and 21 days governs there, not 30.
Cook County, adopted January 28, 2021. The Residential Tenant and Landlord Ordinance, covering suburban and unincorporated Cook County outside towns with qualifying ordinances of their own: a one-and-a-half-month cap, installments at the tenant’s election, return within 30 days after the tenant vacates with any damage statement and paid receipts, a federally insured Illinois account named in the lease, a signed receipt, and two times the deposit plus attorney fees. An amendment the following month relabelled the account, receipt and disclosure duties “administrative”; their two-business-day cure was in the ordinance as enacted. (Cook County Code 42-101, 42-102, 42-103, 42-111, 42-114)
Oak Park, July 2021. A village ordinance modelled on the County’s. Its deposit section, amended again in November 2025, has one rule of its own: a deposit or a one-time non-refundable move-in fee of up to $500, never both; we have not traced which version introduced it. An older village article requiring interest in buildings of four or more units was left in place.
Evanston, January 1, 2025. Ordinance 52-O-24 rewrote the City’s chapter and struck the deposit-interest rule, the interest-bearing account rule and the City’s rate publication. The 21-day return with an itemized notice and the money together, and the cap on security and prepaid rent combined, remain. Whether interest accrued through 2024 remains claimable is not settled. (Evanston City Code 5-3-1, 5-3-2, 5-3-5-1)

2016 and 2018: the earlier amendments

Two earlier rounds shape the current text. In 2016, Public Act 99-253 amended the Interest Act so that the annual payment is owed only once the accumulated interest reaches $5, and added the sentence requiring everything unpaid to be paid at termination; on our reading it is not retroactive, and no published case has decided that. In 2018, Public Acts 100-269 and 100-654 amended the Return Act: a written lease may now specify the cost of cleaning, repairing or replacing a component and the landlord may withhold that amount, provided it is for damage beyond normal wear and tear and reasonable to restore the unit; a landlord who cannot produce receipts through no fault of their own may substitute an itemized list, other evidence and a verified statement; the refund must be delivered in person or by postmarked mail to the last known address; and a tenant who gives no mailing or email address cannot hold the landlord liable for damages or penalties that result. The option to email the statement to a verified address was already in the Act before 2018.

Bills that stalled

SB3530 would have capped deposits at the first full month’s rent statewide; it was re-referred to the Senate Assignments Committee on June 1, 2026 and dies when the 105th General Assembly convenes on January 13, 2027 unless a lame-duck session moves it. The REAL Housing Act (HB5765 and SB4200) would cap total upfront costs at one month’s rent from 2028, with damages of not less than three times; referred in May 2026, no action since. HB3687 and SB2884 would replace the mobile home park deposit section; HB5183 would cap pet deposits at 15% of a month’s rent or $350. None has moved out of committee, and no bill in the current General Assembly amends the Return Act itself. The deposit limits guide has the detail.

What did not change

There is still no statewide cap on a residential deposit. The 45-day full refund still runs from the move-out date alone. No forwarding address is required and no clock waits for one. The Interest Act still starts at 25 units in one building or a contiguous complex, on a deposit held more than six months; the 2024 change to the Return Act did not touch it. The double penalty is still twice the amount wrongfully kept, on a court finding of refusal or bad faith plus a late return. And Chicago’s ordinance is unchanged until the Council acts.

Work out an Illinois deposit return under the current law

The free Illinois deposit tool applies the rules as they stand: the 30-day statement from the later of two dates, the 45-day refund, the local clocks and caps, deposit interest where it is owed, and a statute-cited return letter, all in your browser with nothing stored.

Illinois deposit law changes: common questions

What changed in Illinois security deposit law in 2024?

Public Act 103-224 took effect January 1, 2024 and did two things to the Security Deposit Return Act. It struck the words "containing 5 or more units", so the Act now covers every landlord of residential property who takes a deposit, down to a single rented condo. And it changed the statement clock: the itemized statement is due within 30 days of the later of the date the tenant vacated and the date the tenant’s right of possession ended, where before it ran from vacating alone. The 45-day full refund still runs from the move-out date only. (765 ILCS 710/1(a); P.A. 103-224)

Does the 2024 change apply to a lease signed before 2024?

It has not been decided. The Act applies to leases executed on or after its 1974 effective date, and the 2024 amendment carries no clause limiting it to new leases. On our reading it applies to any withholding after January 1, 2024, whatever the lease date, because the General Assembly writes a lease-date limit when it wants one and wrote none here. A small landlord with a 2023 lease and a 2024 move-out should assume the Act applies. (765 ILCS 710/1, 710/2)

What did the Illinois appellate court decide about security deposits in 2026?

In Verhaeg v. McElligott, decided September 25, 2026, the Fifth District held that a landlord who does not comply with the Act must return the entire deposit once the tenant proves the non-compliance, even where the trial court found real damage, and that the landlord’s remedy is to sue for the damage separately. The landlord there sent its itemization about three months after the deadline and lost all $953 withheld. The court also held that the double penalty needs two things: refusal to supply the statement, or a statement supplied in bad faith, and a failure to return the amount due on time; "the act of refusal requires more than mere noncompliance", so lateness alone is not refusal. The appellate court has since released the opinion with its text unchanged; whether the Illinois Supreme Court has been asked to review it is not yet public. (Verhaeg v. McElligott, 2026 IL App (5th) 250731)

What are the new Illinois landlord fee laws for 2027?

Public Act 104-479 adds section 35 to the Landlord and Tenant Act, effective January 1, 2027, for leases entered into after that date. Every non-optional fee must appear on the first page of the lease or the tenant does not owe it; eleven kinds of fees are banned or limited, including application fees over $50, lease renewal and modification fees, fees for routine maintenance and upkeep, after-hours maintenance fees, and a fee for a move-in or move-out walk-through; a landlord may not rename a fee to escape the section; and tenants may sue. It does not apply to owner-occupied buildings of six units or fewer. It is a fee law: it does not cap deposits, the words "security deposit" do not appear in it, and it does not ban move-in fees. (765 ILCS 705/35)

Did Illinois ban move-in fees?

No. The bill that became the 2027 fee law banned move-in fees as introduced, and the Senate removed the ban before passage; a Senate committee amendment had briefly replaced it with a one-month deposit cap and a rule against charging both a deposit and a fee, and those were removed too. What passed bans fees for routine maintenance, which a turnover-cleaning "move-in fee" may run into, but not move-in fees as such. Chicago has a pending ordinance that would ban them in the city from January 1, 2027; it has not passed. (765 ILCS 705/35; SO2026-0026554)

Is Chicago changing its security deposit rules?

Two competing ordinances are pending and neither has passed. The Mayor’s "Protecting Renters Ordinance" would, from January 1, 2027, cap deposits at one month’s rent, end deposit interest, ban move-in fees and most other fees, and apply the return rules to owner-occupied buildings of six units or fewer. A rival "Fair and Accountable Illinois Rental Ordinance" would, from July 1, 2027, cap deposits at one and a half months’ rent, end deposit interest, and allow move-in fees with disclosure. The City Council deferred both on September 23, 2026 and next meets on December 8 and 9, 2026. Until one passes, the current ordinance is the law. (SO2026-0026554; SO2026-0027202)

Did Evanston change its security deposit rules?

Yes, effective January 1, 2025. Ordinance 52-O-24 rewrote the City’s landlord-tenant chapter and struck its deposit-interest rule, its interest-bearing account rule and the City’s rate publication, so Evanston no longer requires deposit interest. The 21-day rule for returning the deposit with an itemized notice, and the one-and-a-half-month cap on security and prepaid rent together, remain. The City’s own 311 page still says Evanston uses Chicago’s rate; the code does not. (Evanston City Code 5-3-5-1)

Is Illinois getting a statewide security deposit cap?

Not from any bill now alive. SB3530, which would have capped deposits at the first full month’s rent, was re-referred to the Senate Assignments Committee on June 1, 2026 and dies when the 105th General Assembly convenes on January 13, 2027 unless a lame-duck session moves it. The REAL Housing Act (HB5765 and SB4200), which would cap total upfront costs at one month’s rent from 2028, has not moved since May 2026. There is no statewide cap today. (SB3530, 104th General Assembly)

Sources

About this page

Each change above was read in the enacting Public Act, the court’s opinion or the codified ordinance, not in a summary, and the pending ordinances in the City Clerk’s own records. The statutes and the Clerk’s records are on this site’s weekly watch; the municipal codes are re-read by hand. How we verify the law explains the process. This is general information that cites the law, not legal advice, and Orygn LLC is not a law firm. For advice about your situation, talk to a licensed Illinois attorney.