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Illinois residential lease agreement

Answer the questions, download the lease. Free, no account, and it holds your figures to what Illinois allows.

Illinois leaves most of this to local government, and in the places most people rent it has been taken up. Chicago's Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance and Cook County's Residential Tenant and Landlord Ordinance both cap late fees, require deposit interest and receipts, and set their own notice periods, and where one applies it governs instead of the figures here. Check the city and the county before you rely on this page.

What Illinois law does to your lease

These are the figures the builder holds you to. Each one is the statute's, not ours, and the citation is there so you can read it yourself.

RuleIllinoisWhere it says so
Most a landlord may take as a depositNo statutory limitIllinois sets no state ceiling. What it sets is a clock and a paper trail: the itemized statement of any damage claimed, with receipts, within 30 days of the tenant leaving, or the whole deposit goes back.765 ILCS 710
Earliest a late fee may be chargednot sourced yet-
Most a late fee may benot sourced yet-
Notice before the landlord may enternot sourced yet-
Notice to end a month-to-month tenancy30 daysSeven days on a week-to-week tenancy.735 ILCS 5/9-207(b)

The clause most landlords get wrong

Rent stated as a base figure with mandatory fees bolted on beside it. If a fee is not optional, it is rent, and several states now say so outright: the lease has to carry one total figure that the landlord may not charge above. The builder asks for the total and then asks how much of it is fees, which is the same information in the order the law wants it.

The second is the assistance animal. A no-pets clause that does not carve one out is a fair-housing problem, not a pet problem, and no pet rent or pet deposit may be charged for one. Your lease says so whether or not you allow pets.

After it is signed

Download the PDF and it is yours, account or not. If you want the tenant to sign it without printing anything, a free Kouzr account sends it for signature, files the executed copy against the tenancy, and keeps it beside the listing, the rent record and the deposit accounting, so the paperwork for that home is in one place when the tenancy ends.

Is this Illinois lease legally binding?

A written lease signed by the landlord and every adult tenant is a contract, and this one is built to say what Illinois requires a residential lease to say. What it is not is legal advice, and no lawyer has reviewed it. It is a form you complete yourself, the same category as the fill-in-the-blank lease sold in an office supply shop, and it is worth having a lawyer in your state read it before you rely on it, especially on a property you will hold for years.

How much can a landlord charge as a security deposit in Illinois?

Illinois sets no statutory ceiling (765 ILCS 710), so the figure is yours to choose. One month is the usual ask and two is the most a tenant will normally accept; every dollar above that is money you have to hold, account for line by line at move-out, and return on the state's clock.

Can a landlord charge a late fee in Illinois?

We have not sourced a late fee rule for Illinois. Several states set a grace period, a percentage ceiling, or both, and a fee a court finds punitive rather than compensatory is unenforceable in every state. Keep it to a reasonable estimate of what a late payment actually costs you.

How much notice does a landlord have to give before entering in Illinois?

We have not sourced an entry-notice rule for Illinois. Twenty-four hours is the most common requirement in the states that set one, and it is what the builder uses as a default, but confirm your state's before you rely on it. Emergencies need no notice anywhere.

How much notice ends a month-to-month tenancy in Illinois?

30 days of written notice from either side (735 ILCS 5/9-207(b)). The builder writes that figure into the term clause. A lease may agree on longer notice than the statute; one that gives less is unenforceable to that extent, and the statutory period governs instead. Seven days on a week-to-week tenancy.

Do I have to include a lead-based paint disclosure?

Only if the home was built before 1978, and then yes, everywhere in the country. Federal law requires the landlord to disclose known lead-based paint, hand over any report they have, and give the tenant the EPA pamphlet before the tenant is committed to the lease (42 U.S.C. 4852d). Enter the year built and the builder attaches it for you.

Can I have the tenant sign it online?

Yes. Download the PDF and sign it however you like, or make a free Kouzr account and send it to the tenant for signature from here: they get a link, sign on a phone, and the executed copy files itself against the tenancy alongside rent and the deposit record. The PDF is free either way and does not require an account.

Kouzr is not a law firm and this is not legal advice. The builder produces a form you complete yourself, and no lawyer has reviewed the document it assembles. Have one admitted in Illinois read it before you rely on it.