Where an association's governing documents ban short-term rentals, the association may request that the City add the building to the Prohibited Buildings List, which BACP uses to reject short-term rental registration applications for that address.

The mechanics: an association representative completes an affidavit, has it notarized, and submits it to BACP.

This is the single most effective short-term rental measure available to a Chicago board and a great many boards have never used it. It works at the registration stage rather than the enforcement stage — the listing never becomes lawful, so the association is not chasing a violation after the fact.

Two conditions, and both matter. The governing documents must actually ban short-term rentals. And the affidavit has to be accurate about what the documents say — a board that has a leasing cap rather than a short-term rental prohibition is in a weaker position and should get the documents amended first.

The state tax layer, which arrived separately

Two changes an owner operating a short-term rental in a Chicago condominium needs to know about:

From July 1, 2025, all Illinois short-term rentals became subject to the state Hotel Operators' Occupation Tax for stays under 30 consecutive days — a significant expansion beyond hotels. The Department of Revenue issued Informational Bulletin FY 2025-28 defining “hosting platform” and requiring re-renter platforms to file Form RHM-1, and RHM-7 for multi-site.

We did not open that bulletin; its number and title come from secondary sources.

From January 6, 2026, marketplaces such as Airbnb and Vrbo must collect and remit Illinois lodging taxes directly, rather than leaving it to individual operators.

That second change is worth a board's attention for an unexpected reason: platform-level tax collection creates a record of which units are being rented, held by parties that respond to subpoenas and to City data demands.

What a board can do

Three steps, in order.

Check what the documents actually prohibit. A minimum-lease-term provision, a leasing cap and a short-term rental ban are three different things with three different enforcement paths.

If the documents ban short-term rentals, get on the Prohibited Buildings List. It is an affidavit and a notary.

Use the aldermanic channel. A board that wants enforcement without litigating now has a ward office receiving quarterly data on its building. That is a cheaper lever than a violation hearing.

What to watch next

Whether the Protecting Renters Ordinance passes, since its proposed citywide rental registry would sit alongside the short-term rental registration data and give associations a fuller picture of which units in a building are rented at all.