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Author: Mark Ainely | Partner GC Realty & Development & Co-Host Straight Up Chicago Investor Podcast

Being a landlord in Illinois isn’t just collecting checks and sipping coffee while your property appreciates. It’s paperwork, surprises, and learning the hard way that “I didn’t know that was a law” doesn’t hold up in court.

Even the most seasoned investors get tripped up here. The Chicago market moves fast, ordinances pile up, and the rules seem to multiply every year like raccoons in your alley trash cans.

So let’s talk about three laws I’ve seen smart, experienced investors miss, laws that can make a deal turn sideways faster than a tenant calling 311 about “maintenance emergencies.”

These are real, recent, and quietly costing landlords thousands of dollars every year.

1. The Flood Disclosure Law

“Because tenants don’t love surprises that float.”

You’d think flood disclosure would be common sense, right?
Apparently not.

Illinois now requires landlords to put it in writing before a lease is signed if the property is in a flood zone, or if it’s ever flooded, even once.
And if it hasn’t? You still need to say that too.

Both parties must sign it, and yes, even the lower-level or basement units have their own disclosure.

I had a landlord buddy tell me, “Mark, the basement’s dry as a bone.”
Two weeks later, Chicago got one of those sideways rainstorms where your windshield wipers can’t keep up.
Guess what? The tenant’s storage flooded. Guess what else? No disclosure form.
Guess what that means?
The tenant legally broke the lease, got their prepaid rent refunded, and sued for property damage.

That dry-as-a-bone basement suddenly became a $4,000 puddle of regret.

Lesson: if it can flood, disclose it. If it can’t flood, still disclose it.
It’s an easy one-page fix that saves you thousands in headaches.

👉 Want the exact language and examples? Check out What Is the Flood Disclosure for Leases in Illinois?

2. The Illinois Tenant Credit Reporting Act

“Because now tenants can bring their own reports.”

This one rolled out quietly in 2025, and it’s already creating confusion.
Here’s the deal: tenants can now bring their own credit report to you.
If it’s less than 30 days old, from a major bureau (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion), and includes the right info, you can’t charge them again for a credit report.

And you can’t just say, “I don’t accept those.” That’s like telling the judge, “I don’t believe in gravity.”

Now, if you want to run your own report, go for it, but it’s on your dime, not the tenant’s.

Here’s where landlords mess up: they think every self-provided credit report is fake or incomplete, so they charge anyway.
Boom, violation.

The fix?
Create a simple process:

Verify the source (major bureau).
Check the date (within 30 days).
Make a note in your file that it met the act’s criteria.
Run your own report without charges to the applicant after disclosing that is what you will do

Or, you know… let a professional screening service handle it for you.
Because the last thing you want is an attorney explaining to you that your $35 application fee is now Exhibit A.

Want a deeper dive? Read: How the 2025 Illinois Tenant Credit Report Law Impacts Landlords
Or if you’re done dealing with all this yourself, our Tenant Placement Service keeps you compliant and scam-free.

3. The 5-Day vs. 30-Day Notice Rule

“Because the wrong notice means you just gifted your tenant another month of free rent.”

Ah yes, the 5-day notice, the classic “Pay or Get Out” document every landlord has framed on their wall (metaphorically, I hope).

But here’s the part most investors don’t know: there are situations where a 30-day notice is required instead.
And if you give the wrong one? Your eviction can get tossed out faster than a deep-dish pizza in a diet meeting.

Here’s where it bites people:

Section 8 or Subsidized Housing: 30-day notice required.
Federally Backed Mortgages (Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac): Still murky. Thanks to leftover CARES Act interpretations, some tenant attorneys have gotten evictions dismissed because the landlord only used a 5-day.

My advice: if you’re unsure, serve both.
A 5-day and a 30-day. It’s belt and suspenders, but it beats getting pantsed in court.

One wrong notice can mean restarting the clock, losing rent, and watching your tenant host a “Free Rent Month” party.

If you’re in Cook County or Chicago, where RTLO and RLTO already add their own twists, assume every eviction has homework attached.

Why You Haven’t Heard About These Yet

Because none of these made front-page news. They’re not “headline” laws, they’re the quiet kind that hide in the fine print and only show up after someone loses thousands.

Flood disclosure? That one hit landlords like a leaky faucet they didn’t see coming.
Credit reporting? It sounds harmless until it triggers a fair housing complaint.
Wrong eviction notice? That’s a 45-day rent delay minimum, if not worse.

These laws aren’t here to scare you. They’re here to remind you:
You’re running a business, not winging it with a duplex.

And businesses have systems.

If you’re running lean and don’t have time to memorize every law, that’s where we come in.
At GC Realty & Development, we stay painfully up-to-date on this stuff, because it’s easier than explaining to a client why their lease just exploded in court.

Mark’s Take

I’ve always said, landlords learn two ways:

From experience.
From someone else’s experience.

Guess which one costs less?

Here’s your action list:

Add a flood disclosure form to your lease packet.
Update your screening policy for the new credit law.
Double-check your notice templates, 5-day, 30-day, and both.

Do those three things, and you’ll already be ahead of 90% of landlords in Illinois.

And if you’d rather just have someone else stay on top of this while you focus on buying your next property, get a Free Rent Analysis or talk to us about Tenant Placement.
We’re in the business of protecting your bottom line, not just collecting rent.
Who holds you back?

We’ve shared a lot of information here on investing in real estate locally in Chicagoland. If you live outside the area, it may seem overwhelming for those wanting to invest in the Chicago market. But we really just look at it as a team sport.

Who’s on your investing team? Do you even have a team? GC Realty & Development, LLC has a dedicated team of professionals willing to share decades of experience in all facets of real estate investment. We handle everything from brokerage, leasing, and property management. Whether you hire us or not, we’re happy to provide our resources and expertise.

What gets me up in the morning and keeps me going 12 hours a day is the ability to add value to local area investors in Chicago and beyond! Those who connect with me often hear me say that our goal is to bring value to everyone we come in contact with.

We hope that in return, they will one day hire us for our tenant placement or property management services, refer us to someone they know, or leave a review about our services. We would clearly love all three; however, we’re happy whenever we get the opportunity to help!

Reach out today!