Illinois rental‑fee limits pass House

Illinois House lawmakers just voted to limit the extra charges that can pile onto an apartment lease, passing House Bill 3564 by a 64-40 vote on April 9, 2026. The bill now goes to Governor JB Pritzker after clearing both chambers. (capitolnewsillinois.com) The bill says every non-optional fee has to appear on the first page of the lease, and a rental listing has to clearly disclose those fees too. If a fee is not listed that way, the tenant does not owe it under the bill text. (ilga.gov) It also bans a long list of charges that have become normal in some buildings, including lease renewal fees, lease modification fees, fees for contacting the owner or manager, online portal setup fees, maintenance hotline fees, pest removal fees, and walk-through fees. The bill also bars landlords from charging for eviction notices before a court actually grants an eviction order. (ilga.gov) One of the biggest changes is at move-in. A landlord could not charge both a security deposit and a move-in or move-out fee, and any security deposit could not be more than one full month’s rent. (ilga.gov) That sounds narrow until you picture how renting works in practice. A tenant who sees a $1,400 listing can discover on signing day that the real price is $1,400 plus a move-in fee, a lease fee, a portal fee, and other charges that are small one by one but expensive together. (ilga.gov) Illinois has been moving in this direction for a while. The original Senate version, Senate Bill 1964, was introduced by Senator Cristina Castro on February 6, 2025 as the Rental Fee Transparency and Fairness Act, and it targeted hidden rental charges and required fee disclosure on the lease’s first page. (ilga.gov) The final House bill is narrower than that first Senate draft in at least one visible way. The introduced Senate version would have capped certain late fees at $25 if rent was paid within 7 days, while the amended House text that passed focuses more on disclosure, junk-fee bans, and deposit limits. (ilga.gov 1) (ilga.gov 2) Landlords still keep some room to charge for actual court costs in an eviction case, because the bill says the ban on pre-eviction fees does not limit their ability to recover costs and fees in the action itself. The line it draws is between real legal costs after a court process and extra charges added earlier as pressure. (ilga.gov) This fight is happening state by state because rent is not just the monthly number anymore. Operators increasingly use fees the way airlines use bag charges: the base price gets the shopper in the door, and the add-ons raise the actual bill later. (evanstonnow.com) For renters, the practical change is simple if the governor signs it: the advertised price and the first page of the lease would have to do more of the honest work up front. For property owners, the squeeze lands on the side revenue that can matter most on lower-rent units, where a few extra fees can make a visible difference in margins. (evanstonnow.com)