Illinois Rental Application Form

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   The one Illinois rule that reliably takes an application screening fee down to nothing is the reusable report. Under 765 ILCS 705/30(b)(1), in force since 1 January 2025 and amended effective 15 August 2025, where a prospective tenant provides a reusable tenant screening report meeting the listed criteria the landlord may not charge the prospective tenant a fee to access the report or an application screening fee. The criteria are cumulative, not alternatives: the report was prepared within the previous 30 days by a consumer credit reporting agency at the request and expense of the prospective tenant; it is made directly available to the landlord for use in the rental application process, or provided through a third-party website that regularly engages in the business of providing such reports and complies with all State and federal laws on the use and disclosure of consumer report information; it is available to the landlord at no cost to access or use; and it includes all of the criteria consistently being used by the landlord in the screening of prospective tenants.

2. 2

   The same section defines what makes a report conforming, so the question is answerable rather than a matter of opinion. 765 ILCS 705/30(a) defines a reusable tenant screening report as a written report prepared by a consumer credit reporting agency that prominently states the date through which the information in it is current, and that includes the name of the prospective tenant, their contact information, a verification of source of income, their last known address, and the results of an eviction history check conducted in a manner and for a period of time consistent with applicable law related to the consideration of eviction history in housing. The section defines the charge too: an application screening fee means a request by a landlord for a fee to cover the costs of obtaining information about a prospective tenant.

3. 3

   Illinois has no amount limit in force today, and the page cannot honestly say otherwise. 765 ILCS 705/35 carries the statutory database's delayed-effective-date flag and a source note of P.A. 104-479, eff. 1-1-27, so the fifty dollar figure in subsection (c)(1) is enacted law waiting on 1 January 2027 rather than a current ceiling. The section is written to resist relabelling once it operates: a landlord may not rename a fee or charge to avoid application of this Section. It applies to lease agreements for residential rental property entered into after the effective date of the amendatory Act, except for lease agreements for dwelling units in owner-occupied premises containing 6 units or fewer.

4. 4

   Arrest record is a protected basis in Illinois residential rentals, and the Human Rights Act defines the term rather than leaving it open. 775 ILCS 5/1-103(B-5) provides that an arrest record means an arrest not leading to a conviction, a juvenile record, or criminal history record information ordered expunged, sealed or impounded under Section 5.2 of the Criminal Identification Act. 775 ILCS 5/3-102 then makes it a civil rights violation for an owner or any other person, or for a real estate broker or salesman, to refuse to engage in a real estate transaction or deny real property, or to discriminate in making such a transaction available, because of an arrest record. That basis has sat in Article 3 since P.A. 102-896 took effect on 1 January 2023, and the section has been amended twice since, effective 1 January 2024 and 1 January 2025.

5. 5

   The Illinois bar reaches the paperwork, which is the part that matters most for an application form. Section 3-102(F) makes it a civil rights violation to use a form of application for a real estate transaction, or to make a record or inquiry in connection with a prospective real estate transaction, that indicates any preference, limitation or discrimination based on an arrest record or on the other listed bases. Because the statutory words are form, record and inquiry, an Illinois application that asks the question is a problem before anyone reads the answer. Section 3-102(H) adds a separate test on criteria and methods: those that have the effect of subjecting individuals to discrimination on a listed basis are unlawful if they are not necessary to achieve a substantial, legitimate, non-discriminatory interest, or if that interest could be served by another practice that has a less discriminatory effect.

6. 6

   Illinois keeps two defined terms apart and the boundary is exact. Arrest record is defined at Section 1-103(B-5), and that is the term Section 3-102 lists among the Article 3 real estate bases. Conviction record is defined separately at Section 1-103(G-5), as information indicating that a person has been convicted of a felony, misdemeanor or other criminal offense, placed on probation, fined, imprisoned or paroled, and it is not one of the bases Section 3-102 lists. The statewide Illinois rule is also categorical rather than procedural: it removes the defined categories of record from use entirely, and it prescribes no conditional-offer sequence, no individualized-assessment duty and no lookback period.

7. 7

   Source of income and immigration status are protected bases in Illinois rentals too, and they reach the application the same way an arrest record does. Section 1-103(O-5) defines source of income as the lawful manner by which an individual supports himself or herself and his or her dependents. Section 3-101(I) defines immigration status as a person's actual or perceived citizenship or immigration status. Both appear in the Section 3-102 list, so the form, record and inquiry limits apply to them as well. Separately, Illinois is a floor state: under 765 ILCS 705/30(c), where an ordinance, resolution, regulation, administrative action, initiative or other policy adopted by a unit of local government or county conflicts with the Act, the policy that provides greater protections to prospective tenants applies. Cook County's Just Housing Amendment, which carries its own disclosure duties before an application fee is accepted, is county law and not Illinois law.

Illinois Requirements for Rental Application Form

• No Amount Limit In Force, and the Date One Arrives

  Illinois has no statutory ceiling on a rental application or screening fee on today's date. 765 ILCS 705/35(c)(1) bars a fee for a rental application, including background checks, in excess of $50, but it was added by P.A. 104-479 with an effective date of 1 January 2027, and the General Assembly's statutory database carries its own notice that the section may contain text from a Public Act with a delayed effective date. Treat the figure as enacted and pending rather than current. The section is also written against relabelling once it operates: a landlord may not rename a fee or charge to avoid application of this Section.

• The Fee Drops to Nothing When a Conforming Reusable Report Is Supplied

  In force since 1 January 2025 and amended effective 15 August 2025. 765 ILCS 705/30(b)(1) provides that if a prospective tenant provides a reusable tenant screening report meeting its criteria, the landlord may not charge the prospective tenant a fee to access the report or an application screening fee. The criteria are cumulative: prepared within the previous 30 days by a consumer credit reporting agency at the request and expense of the prospective tenant; made directly available to the landlord for use in the rental application process, or provided through a third-party website that regularly engages in that business and complies with all State and federal laws pertaining to use and disclosure of information contained in a consumer report; available to the landlord at no cost to access or use; and including all of the criteria consistently being used by the landlord in the screening of prospective tenants.

• What a Conforming Reusable Tenant Screening Report Has to Contain

  765 ILCS 705/30(a) defines a reusable tenant screening report as a written report, prepared by a consumer credit reporting agency, that prominently states the date through which the information contained in the report is current and includes the name of the prospective tenant, the contact information for the prospective tenant, a verification of source of income of the prospective tenant, the last known address of the prospective tenant, and the results of an eviction history check of the prospective tenant in a manner and for a period of time consistent with applicable law related to the consideration of eviction history in housing. The same subsection defines an application screening fee as a request by a landlord for a fee to cover the costs of obtaining information about a prospective tenant.

• The Landlord May Still Run Its Own Process, But Not Charge For It

  765 ILCS 705/30(d) provides that nothing in the Section prohibits a landlord from collecting and processing an application in addition to the report provided, as long as the prospective tenant is not charged an application screening fee for this additional report. So what the statute makes mandatory is the no-fee consequence, not the substitution of the applicant's report for the landlord's own process. Section 30(b)(2) adds that a landlord may require an applicant to state that there has not been a material change to the information in the reusable tenant screening report.

• Non-Optional Fees on the First Page of the Lease, From 2027

  Enacted, not yet in force, effective 1 January 2027 under P.A. 104-479. 765 ILCS 705/35(b) provides that all non-optional fees, regardless of whether they are one-time fees or recurring fees, shall be explicitly contained on the first page of a lease agreement, and that 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 in a clear and conspicuous manner in a listing of residential property or in an accompanying weblink at the time of the listing, and the landlord must disclose whether utilities are included in rent. Subsection (f) allows any person alleging a violation to bring a civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction, where the court may order injunctive relief, monetary relief, attorney's fees and costs.

• Arrest Record Is a Protected Basis, and the Bar Reaches the Form

  In force since 1 January 2023 under P.A. 102-896, with the section amended effective 1 January 2024 and 1 January 2025. 775 ILCS 5/1-103(B-5) defines an arrest record as an arrest not leading to a conviction, a juvenile record, or criminal history record information ordered expunged, sealed or impounded under Section 5.2 of the Criminal Identification Act. 775 ILCS 5/3-102 makes it a civil rights violation for an owner or any other person, or for a real estate broker or salesman, to refuse to engage in a real estate transaction or deny real property, or to discriminate in making such a transaction available, because of an arrest record. Section 3-101(B) defines a real estate transaction to include the rental or lease of real property. Section 3-102(F) reaches the paperwork: it is a violation to use a form of application for a real estate transaction, or to make a record or inquiry in connection with a prospective real estate transaction, that indicates any preference, limitation or discrimination based on an arrest record. Conviction record is defined separately at Section 1-103(G-5) and is not one of the bases Section 3-102 lists.

• Source of Income, Immigration Status, and the Test on Criteria

  775 ILCS 5/1-103(O-5) defines source of income as the lawful manner by which an individual supports himself or herself and his or her dependents, which reaches a housing voucher. 775 ILCS 5/3-101(I) defines immigration status as a person's actual or perceived citizenship or immigration status. Both are bases in the Section 3-102 list, so the same form, record and inquiry prohibition applies to them. Section 3-102(H) adds a separate test: criteria or methods that have the effect of subjecting individuals to discrimination on a listed basis are unlawful if they are not necessary to achieve a substantial, legitimate, non-discriminatory interest, or if that interest could be served by another practice that has a less discriminatory effect.

• Illinois Sets a Floor for Local Rules, Not a Ceiling

  765 ILCS 705/30(c) provides that if an ordinance, resolution, regulation, administrative action, initiative or other policy adopted by a unit of local government or county conflicts with the Act, the policy that provides greater protections to prospective tenants applies. From 1 January 2027, 765 ILCS 705/35(d) adds that any home rule unit of local government, non-home rule municipality or non-home rule county within the unincorporated territory of the county may regulate fees charged to tenants, but such regulations must at a minimum restrict fees charged to tenants in a manner equal to that Section, expressly as a limitation under subsection (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution. The practical consequence is that Cook County's Just Housing Amendment, which imposes its own disclosure duties before an application fee may be accepted, operates on top of the state arrest record rule. It is county law, and city measures elsewhere in the state are municipal law, so neither one is Illinois law and neither applies statewide.