Illinois Rental Application
Fill out a Illinois rental application below and download a print-ready PDF — identity, rental history, employment, references and screening consent. Free, no signup.
Maintained by the SealForms editorial team · Every state-specific figure on this page is cited to its statute or official agency page · Dataset last verified July 2026 · Not legal advice.
Illinois application-fee rule · as of July 2026
Actual screening cost only
765 ILCS 705 (PA 103-754, eff. 1/1/2025) — Actual out-of-pocket screening cost only; reusable screening reports accepted. Multiple legal databases converge, but ilga.gov was unreachable for direct verification — confirm before relying.
Source: Illinois General Assembly ↗. Laws change — confirm the current rule before you rely on it. This rule converges across legal databases but the official text was unreachable at compilation — verify before relying.
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Know your Illinois rules
Application-fee rules come from state law, not the form: in Illinois, actual screening cost only (765 ILCS 705 (PA 103-754, eff. 1/1/2025)). Cities can add their own caps. Check the currentIllinois screening rules before charging or paying a fee.
Frequently asked questions
How much can a landlord charge for a rental application in Illinois?
Illinois only allows charging the actual cost of screening (765 ILCS 705 (PA 103-754, eff. 1/1/2025)). Actual out-of-pocket screening cost only; reusable screening reports accepted. Multiple legal databases converge, but ilga.gov was unreachable for direct verification — confirm before relying. Source: Illinois General Assembly.
Is the application a lease?
No. The application only collects information for screening. If approved, landlord and tenant then sign a lease — see our Illinois lease agreement template, which reflects Illinois's deposit and notice rules.
How does Illinois compare? See application-fee limits in all 50 states, every rule cited to statute.
How Illinois compares
Computed from our 51-jurisdiction dataset (as of July 2026). Source for Illinois: Illinois General Assembly ↗.
- Illinois is one of 6 of 51 jurisdictions that limit the fee to the landlord's actual screening cost (33 set no statutory limit on application fees; 8 cap the application fee by statute; 4 ban application fees outright).
The rest of what Illinois requires
The figures below are Illinois's, not national averages — each one is the value we verified for this state, with the statute it comes from. Follow a row to the full Illinois page for that document.
- Security deposit cap· as of 2026
- No statutory limit765 ILCS 710 (Security Deposit Return Act) ↗
- Deposit return deadline· as of 2026
- 45 days after move-out765 ILCS 710 (Security Deposit Return Act) ↗
- Notice to end a month-to-month tenancy· as of 2026
- 30 days765 ILCS 710 (Security Deposit Return Act) ↗
- Notice for unpaid rent· as of 2026
- 5 days to pay or quit735 ILCS 5/9-209; 5/9-210; 5/9-207 ↗
- Notice to cure a lease violation· as of 2026
- 10 days735 ILCS 5/9-209; 5/9-210; 5/9-207 ↗
- Small claims limit· as of 2026
- $10,000Ill. Sup. Ct. Rules 281-289; 705 ILCS 105/27.1b (fees) ↗
- Where you file· as of 2026
- Small claims in the Circuit Court (simplified procedure under Supreme Court Rules 281-289) · filing fee Varies by county — set by county ordinance within Supreme Court fee schedules under 705 ILCS 105/27.1b; commonly ~$89 for the smallest claims up to ~$250-$330 for claims near $10,000 depending on county (Cook County runs higher). Check the circuit clerk's fee schedule for your county.Ill. Sup. Ct. Rules 281-289; 705 ILCS 105/27.1b (fees) ↗
- Bill of sale notarization· as of 2026
- Not requiredIllinois SoS / DMV.ORG ↗
- Power of attorney signing· as of 2026
- Notarization required · 1 witness755 ILCS 45/3-3 ↗
- LLC operating agreement· as of 2026
- Not required by statute, but it controls over the default rules805 ILCS 180/1-5 (definition); 805 ILCS 180/15-5 (operating agreement, scope) ↗
- Recording a deed· as of 2026
- County Recorder of Deeds (in Cook County the Recorder of Deeds office was merged into the County Clerk in Dec. 2020) · no witnesses765 ILCS 5/10; 765 ILCS 5/20 ↗
Rental application in other states
More Illinois legal forms
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