How much can a landlord charge for a rental application fee in Illinois?

No statutory cap on application fees.

Does a landlord have to give a receipt for an application fee in Illinois?

No statutory receipt duty for application money.

Does Illinois have a reusable tenant screening report law?

An applicant may supply a reusable tenant screening report prepared within the previous 30 days by a consumer credit reporting agency at the applicant's own request and expense. Where it qualifies, the landlord may charge neither a fee to access it nor an application screening fee. Illinois does not require a landlord to accept such a report.

Can a landlord charge a holding deposit in Illinois?

No statute on holding deposits.

What can a landlord charge for a rental application in Illinois?

Verified August 26, 2026 All Illinois topics →

Legislative changes ahead — not yet in force. The rules on this page reflect the law in force today. The following measures would change it:

SB 1260 (104th General Assembly, 2025-2026) — Would repeal the Rent Control Preemption Act (50 ILCS 825), ending the statewide bar on local rent regulation and leaving home-rule and non-home-rule units free to consider rent-control ordinances. Repeal bills of this kind have been introduced in most recent sessions without passing.Status: Introduced February 2025; in Senate committee with no floor action. Alive until the 104th General Assembly adjourns in January 2027. (checked 2026-08-12).
HB 3564 (Public Act 104-0479) — Adds a rental fee transparency and limitations section to the Landlord and Tenant Act: non-optional fees on the first page of the lease and in the listing, a utilities disclosure, a cap of $50 on a rental application fee including background checks with a receipted third-party-cost exception, ten further banned fees and fines, an anti-relabeling rule, a home rule floor, an exemption for owner-occupied buildings of six units or fewer, and a private civil action.Status: Governor Approved and enrolled as Public Act 104-0479, with the effective date recorded on the bill's own page as January 1, 2027. (checked 2026-08-26).
HB 4998 — Standardized Protections for Residential Tenants Act. Would cap an application fee at $20 and allow a background or credit check fee of $20 or the actual cost, whichever is less, alongside a one-month limit on deposits and advances.Status: Re-referred to the Rules Committee under House Rule 19(a) after leaving the Commercial and Property Law Subcommittee. (checked 2026-08-26).
SB 3763 — Senate companion to the bill that became the effective-date trailer. Would require all non-optional fees to be disclosed in the listing and on the first page of the lease, bar bundled fees that mix optional and non-optional charges, and cap an application fee that includes a background check at $50.Status: First Reading completed and referred to Assignments; co-sponsors added in February 2026. (checked 2026-08-26).
SB 3363 — An alternative rental fee transparency section. Would require each recurring non-optional fee to appear in the listing and on the first page of the lease as part of the total cost of rent, with the fee uncollectable on a recurring basis if it is not.Status: First Reading completed and referred to Assignments. (checked 2026-08-26).
SB 2912 — Would bar a real estate broker or rental agent acting for the owner from taking any payment or fee from a tenant or prospective tenant, and bar a landlord from requiring an applicant to engage and pay such an agent as a condition of applying for or leasing a unit, with a private civil action.Status: Re-referred to Assignments under Senate Rule 3-9(a) after the committee deadline passed. (checked 2026-08-26).
SB 1486 — Junk Fee Ban Act. A general consumer measure requiring the total price to be disclosed clearly and displayed more prominently than other pricing information; it would reach residential rental advertising only if enacted. The House twin, HB 62, is also in committee.Status: Referred to Assignments pursuant to Senate Rule 3-9(b). (checked 2026-08-26).

Illinois does not cap residential rental application or screening fees today, but it does bar any application screening fee when an applicant hands the landlord a qualifying reusable tenant screening report, and a $50 limit on application and background-check fees begins on January 1, 2027.

Cited to 765 ILCS 705/30 (a) and 24 more Illinois statutes · Verified August 26, 2026

That reusable-report rule is the only application-stage requirement now in force: a report prepared in the previous 30 days by a consumer credit reporting agency at the applicant's own expense, free for the landlord to use and covering the criteria the landlord applies, must not be charged for, though nothing obliges a landlord to accept one. Illinois sets no receipt, refund, pre-collection disclosure, denial-notice, or holding-deposit rules at the application stage, and no rule in force requires advertised rent to include mandatory fees. From January 1, 2027 a new rental fee section adds listing and first-page-of-lease disclosure of every non-optional fee, bans eleven named fees and fines, and lets a person sue for injunctive relief, monetary relief, attorney's fees and costs; it applies only to leases signed on or after that date and not to owner-occupied buildings of six units or fewer.

Illinois application fees at a glance

Application fee cap	No statutory cap on application fees
Fee limited to actual screening cost	No statute ties the fee to screening cost
Screening charge rules	Where an applicant supplies a reusable tenant screening report that meets all four statutory conditions, the landlord may charge neither a fee to access the report nor an application screening fee. The landlord may still take and process its own application, but may not charge the applicant for doing so. The bar on charging applies when the report was prepared within the previous 30 days by a consumer credit reporting agency at the applicant's request and expense, reaches the landlord directly or through a third-party site at no cost to access or use, and covers all of the criteria the landlord consistently uses in screening. A landlord may require the applicant to state that the information has not materially changed. Where a local government's rule conflicts, whichever rule gives prospective tenants greater protection applies. Illinois adds a further condition on January 1, 2027, barring a charge alongside the application fee that duplicates screening costs or covers costs unrelated to screening. A conflicting county or municipal policy yields to whichever rule gives prospective tenants greater protection (765 ILCS 705/30(c)).
Receipt required	No statutory receipt duty for application money
Refund required in some circumstances	No statutory refund duty
Refund rules	No statutory refund duty
Disclosure before collecting	No statutory disclosure duty
Denial-notice duties (state law)	No state statute — federal fair-credit duties still apply
Reusable screening reports	An applicant may supply a reusable tenant screening report prepared within the previous 30 days by a consumer credit reporting agency at the applicant's own request and expense. Where it qualifies, the landlord may charge neither a fee to access it nor an application screening fee. Illinois does not require a landlord to accept such a report. A qualifying report prominently states the date through which its information is current and covers the applicant's name, contact information, a verification of source of income, last known address, and the results of an eviction history check. It must reach the landlord directly or through a third-party site that regularly provides such reports and follows state and federal law on consumer report use, be free for the landlord to access or use, and include all of the criteria the landlord consistently applies. The landlord may ask the applicant to state that nothing in it has materially changed, and may still run its own application process at no charge to the applicant. Where a county or municipal policy conflicts, whichever policy gives prospective tenants greater protection applies (765 ILCS 705/30(c)).
Holding deposits	No statute on holding deposits
Rental fee-transparency rules	No rental fee-transparency statute
Penalty for violation	No specific statutory penalty

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Illinois Application & Screening Fee Laws (verified August 26, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/application-fees/illinois/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Every figure above is cited to the Illinois statute in the citations section below.

Notes and caveats

Nothing new applies before 2027 — The rental fee section signed in June 2026 does not begin until January 1, 2027, and then reaches only lease agreements entered into on or after that date. Leases already running when it starts are not covered.
Small owner-occupied buildings are exempt from the 2027 rules — The 2027 section does not apply to lease agreements for dwelling units in owner-occupied premises containing six units or fewer. The reusable-report rule in force today has no such exemption.
A landlord need not accept a reusable report — The statute conditions the fee, not acceptance. A landlord may run its own application alongside the report; it simply may not charge the applicant for doing so, and only where the report meets all four conditions, including the 30-day window.
Local rules can go further — For the reusable-report rule, a conflicting county or municipal policy yields to whichever gives prospective tenants greater protection. From January 1, 2027, local governments may regulate tenant fees but must be at least as restrictive as the state section.
Denial notices come from federal law — Illinois imposes no state duty to explain a refused application or to supply a copy of a screening report. Those duties come from the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act.
The $50 figure is fixed in statute — It is written into the section itself and is not indexed to inflation or republished by any Illinois agency, so there is no annual figure to look up.
Manufactured-home communities are separate — Lot tenancies in manufactured-home communities are governed by the Mobile Home Landlord and Tenant Rights Act rather than by the sections described here.
About the application fee rule — No Illinois statute limits what a landlord may charge someone to apply for a standard residential tenancy. The one application-stage provision in force, the reusable tenant screening report section, defines an application screening fee but sets no ceiling on it; what a landlord may charge is left to the parties and to market practice. A ceiling of $50 on a fee for a rental application, including background checks, was signed on June 26, 2026 and applies to residential lease agreements entered into on or after January 1, 2027, with a narrow exception where a third-party background check actually costs more.
How the cost limit works — Nothing in force ties an Illinois application or screening charge to what the screening actually costs. The reusable tenant screening report section is the provision that would carry such a limit and does not contain one. From January 1, 2027 a charge above $50 is permitted only where the third-party background check service actually costs more than $50, the landlord pays that cost upfront, and the landlord bills the applicant within 14 days with the provider's receipts.
What the receipt duty covers — Illinois imposes no receipt duty for application or screening money today. The reusable tenant screening report section is silent on documentation of any kind, and no other provision of the Landlord and Tenant Act reaches application-stage payments. From January 1, 2027 receipts become the condition of charging more than $50: a landlord must bill the applicant within 14 days with receipts from the third-party background check provider, and the fee is waived if that does not happen.
When money must come back — No Illinois statute forces the return of application or screening money in any circumstance. The reusable tenant screening report section bars the charge outright in the one situation it covers rather than requiring money back, and the Security Deposit Return Act's return machinery is keyed to money a lessor has received from a lessee to secure rent or cover damage, which is post-lease money. What governs instead is the parties' agreement.
Refunds — There are no statutory circumstances, deadlines, or mechanics for returning application or screening money in Illinois, whether the applicant is refused, withdraws, or the unit is taken by someone else. The rules arriving on January 1, 2027 work by making a charge unenforceable rather than refundable: an over-limit third-party check fee is waived if not billed with receipts in time, and a tenant is not liable for a fee left off the first page of the lease. What governs instead is the parties' agreement and general contract law.
What must be disclosed up front — Nothing in force requires an Illinois landlord to tell an applicant the screening criteria, the basis or breakdown of a fee, or the applicant's rights before taking money. The reusable tenant screening report section places no duty on the landlord ahead of a charge; its conditions run to the applicant's report. From January 1, 2027 every non-optional fee must be disclosed clearly and conspicuously in the listing or an accompanying weblink at the time of listing, must appear on the first page of the lease, and the landlord must state whether utilities are included in rent. Even then, screening criteria themselves need not be published.
Denial notices — Illinois places no state-level duty on a landlord to tell a rental applicant why an application was refused, to give notice within a set time, or to hand over a copy of a screening report. The reusable tenant screening report section is the provision that would carry such a duty and addresses only the report and the fee. Denial-notice duties come from the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, whose definitions that section borrows, and those are federal rather than Illinois rules.
Money to hold a unit — No Illinois statute governs money taken to hold a unit between application and lease signing: there is no cap, no written-statement duty, and no rule on what happens to the money if the tenancy goes ahead, falls through, or the applicant withdraws. The application-stage section of the Landlord and Tenant Act does not mention it, and the Security Deposit Return Act reaches only a deposit a lessor has received from a lessee to secure rent or cover damage to the premises. What governs instead is the parties' agreement.
Advertising and fee transparency — No Illinois rule in force requires an advertised rent to include mandatory fees or requires those fees to be broken out for a prospective tenant. The Landlord and Tenant Act carries no advertising provision in force; the Rent Concession Act reaches only a legend on a lease shown to purchasers and lenders; and the Attorney General's retail advertising rules, which do cover property offered for rental or lease, are confined to price-comparison and savings claims and availability of advertised merchandise. From January 1, 2027 a rental fee statute applies to residential leases entered into on or after that date: every non-optional fee, one-time or recurring, must appear on the first page of the lease and be disclosed in the listing, a tenant is not liable for a fee left off page one, eleven named fees and fines are barred, a landlord may not rename a charge to sidestep the rules, and buildings of six units or fewer with an owner living in them are exempt.
Penalties — No damages, civil penalty, or fee forfeiture attaches to the reusable tenant screening report rule; the section creates the bar on charging but supplies no remedy. The absence is deliberate on the face of the Act, which expressly makes a breach of its electronic funds transfer section an unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act and says nothing of the kind for the screening section. From January 1, 2027 anyone alleging a breach of the rental fee section may bring a civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction, and the court may order injunctive relief, monetary relief, attorney's fees, and costs.

Common questions: Illinois application fees

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

How much can a landlord charge for a rental application fee in Illinois?: No statutory cap on application fees.
Does an application fee have to be refunded in Illinois?: No statutory refund duty.
Does a landlord have to give a receipt for an application fee in Illinois?: No statutory receipt duty for application money.
Does Illinois have a reusable tenant screening report law?: An applicant may supply a reusable tenant screening report prepared within the previous 30 days by a consumer credit reporting agency at the applicant's own request and expense. Where it qualifies, the landlord may charge neither a fee to access it nor an application screening fee. Illinois does not require a landlord to accept such a report.
Can a landlord charge a holding deposit in Illinois?: No statute on holding deposits.

Statute citations

765 ILCS 705/30 (a) (verified 2026) Official source
765 ILCS 705/35 (c)(1) (verified 2026) Official source
765 ILCS 705/30 (a), (b) (verified 2026) Official source
765 ILCS 705/35 (c)(1)(A)-(C) (verified 2026) Official source
765 ILCS 705/30 (b)(1), (b)(2), (d) (verified 2026) Official source
765 ILCS 705/35 (c)(2) (verified 2026) Official source
765 ILCS 705/30 (verified 2026) Official source
765 ILCS 705/35 (c)(1)(C) (verified 2026) Official source
765 ILCS 705/30 (b)(1) (verified 2026) Official source
765 ILCS 710/1 (a) (verified 2026) Official source
765 ILCS 705/30 (b), (d) (verified 2026) Official source
765 ILCS 705/35 (b), (c)(1) (verified 2026) Official source
765 ILCS 705/30 (b) (verified 2026) Official source
765 ILCS 705/35 (b), (b)(1), (b)(2) (verified 2026) Official source
765 ILCS 705/30 (a), (b)(1)(A)-(D), (b)(2), (c), (d) (verified 2026) Official source
765 ILCS 705/35 (b)-(e) (verified 2026) Official source
765 ILCS 730/1 Sections 1 and 3 (verified 2026) Official source
14 Ill. Adm. Code 470 (adopted at 13 Ill. Reg. 11441, effective June 29, 1989) Sections 470.110, 470.120, 470.210 (verified 2026) Official source
765 ILCS 705/4 (c) (verified 2026) Official source
765 ILCS 705/35 (f) (verified 2026) Official source
765 ILCS 705/35 (verified 2026) Official source
765 ILCS 705 (Landlord and Tenant Act) (verified 2026) Official source
Public Act 104-0479 (HB 3564) (verified 2026) Official source
Public Act 104-0514 (HB 5234) (verified 2026) Official source
765 ILCS 710 (Security Deposit Return Act) (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Direct read of the whole Landlord and Tenant Act (765 ILCS 705), including sections 30 and 35, on the Illinois General Assembly site, plus the Security Deposit Return Act (765 ILCS 710) and Rent Concession Act (765 ILCS 730); the Attorney General's advertising and consumer-protection rules at 14 Ill. Adm. Code 450 and 470 on the Illinois Administrative Code site; the enrolled texts and full bill-status histories of HB3564 (Public Act 104-0479), HB5234 (Public Act 104-0514), HB4926 (Public Act 103-0840) and SB2394 (Public Act 104-0417); and a title sweep of the 104th General Assembly's full bill index, covering House Bills 1 through 5808 and Senate Bills 1 through 4212, for fee, tenant, screening, application and transparency measures, with every on-topic hit opened on its own bill-status page.