2026-09-10 · Illinois · Legislation

What happened. Illinois enacted two separate statutes that each commandeer the first page of a residential lease, on effective dates one year apart. Any association or management company that leases units in Illinois has to satisfy both in the same document.

First: the Summary of Rights for Safer Homes Act, P.A. 103-1031, codified at 765 ILCS 752, took effect January 1, 2026. Second: HB 3564, signed June 26, 2026 as Public Act 104-0479, adds a new Section 35 to the Landlord and Tenant Act at 765 ILCS 705/35.¹

The junk-fee ban, and the eleven prohibited charges

Section 35 requires that all non-optional fees, one-time or recurring, be “explicitly contained on the first page of a lease agreement.” The sanction is direct: “If a fee is not explicitly contained on the first page of a lease agreement, a tenant shall not be liable for payment of such fee.” Non-optional fees must also be disclosed clearly and conspicuously in the listing or an accompanying weblink at the time of listing, and the lease or listing must state whether utilities are included in rent.

Subsection (c) then prohibits eleven charges outright:

• an application or background-check fee over $50 — with a narrow exception where a third-party check actually costs more, the landlord fronts it, and bills the applicant with receipts within 14 days (miss the 14 days and the fee is waived; and this fee may never ground an eviction in the lease's first year);
• any ancillary application-time fee duplicating screening costs or covering non-screening costs;
• any fee or fine for lease modification or renewal;
• any fee or fine for an eviction notice, or for filing an eviction before an eviction order issues (court costs and filing fees remain recoverable);
• after-hours maintenance request fees;
• fees for contacting the owner or property manager about maintenance, lease questions or tenancy matters;
• travel fees for maintenance or safety repairs;
• maintenance-hotline fees;
• fees for routine maintenance and upkeep of the unit;
• pest abatement fees where the tenant did not contribute to the infestation;
• fees for an in-person move-in or move-out walkthrough.

The anti-evasion clause and the scope carve-out

1. Public Act 104-0479 (HB 3564), rental fee transparency and limitations, full text ↩
2. Public Act 103-1031, Summary of Rights for Safer Homes Act, full text ↩
3. 765 ILCS 705, Landlord and Tenant Act, current text including new Section 35 ↩