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Author: Mark Ainely | Partner GC Realty & Development & Co-Host Straight Up Chicago Investor Podcast
I try to stay on top of every proposed change to local rental laws. Not because I enjoy reading ordinances, but because we manage for more than 500 investors, and it is my job to spot what is coming before it lands on them. Lately my desk has been busy. In just the last several months, a handful of towns across the Chicago area have moved on rental rules, some big and some small. So I pulled them into one place for you.
Below is a quick tour of five spots that made changes or are trying to. Some of these are now law. Some are still just talk. A couple are aimed right at single family rental owners. Let's run through them.
Key Takeaways
- Five local governments are in motion on rentals right now. Evergreen Park, Chicago, Pingree Grove, Carpentersville, and Wayne.
- Evergreen Park tightened its rental license and inspection program in a big way, and the new rules change how you can even show a unit.
- Chicago has a huge proposal on the table called the Protecting Renters Ordinance. It is not law yet.
- Pingree Grove already passed a new rental inspection program in May 2026.
- Carpentersville now ties its rental license to a Crime Free Housing class and an affidavit.
- Wayne floated a rental ordinance earlier in 2026, but we cannot confirm it ever passed.
- The trend is clear. More towns want a list of who owns what, and more of them want inspections. Get your house in order now.
Evergreen Park (This One Is Law And It Is Strict)
Evergreen Park passed Ordinance 27-2025 and beefed up its rental license and inspection program. This is the one I want owners to read twice, because it changes day to day operations.
Here are the parts that matter most.
You face yearly inspections, plus extra inspections any time the village gets a complaint. If there is a life or health threat, they can inspect with no notice at all.
Lockboxes are not allowed for showing a unit to a possible renter. You or your agent has to be physically there any time someone tours an open unit. If you lease remotely or use a lockbox to show, that workflow is done in Evergreen Park.
If a unit sits empty, you have to tell the village within seven days, and then check the unit every week to make sure it stays secure.
If you get caught breaking the rules, you can be blocked from getting a rental license for a full year, on top of fines.
Inspections are deep. They look at the inside of every unit, the outside, garages, storage, common areas, basements, laundry, electrical, and plumbing.
Bottom line. If you own in Evergreen Park, the showing rules and the empty unit rules will change how you work. Plan for it.
Chicago (The Big One, Still A Proposal)
Mayor Brandon Johnson is pushing the Protecting Renters Ordinance. It would be the biggest update to Chicago's rental rules in 40 years. It would set up a citywide rental registry, ban junk fees, create a Tenant Bill of Rights, force landlords to disclose pricing software, and add a just cause for eviction rule. It would also build a new city office to run all of it.
This one is a lot, and it is not law yet. It was set to hit the City Council housing committee in June 2026, and landlord groups are fighting it. I wrote a full breakdown of what is in it and where I think it could backfire on renters.
Read the deep dive here: Brandon Johnson's Protecting Renters Ordinance Could End Up Hurting The Renters It Wants To Help
One quick note for the single family crowd. As the Chicago draft reads, single family rental owners would be included in the registry. If you rent out a house you do not live in, you would register and pay.
Pingree Grove (Already Passed)
Pingree Grove moved fast. On May 4, 2026, the village board voted 6 to 0 to add a Rental Housing Inspection Program as a new chapter of the village code. It is built around inspections and reinspections, with information materials for owners and tenants. This town has grown from a few hundred people to nearly 12,000, so the village is catching its rules up to its size.
I broke this one down in its own article, including what owners out that way should do.
Read the deep dive here: Pingree Grove Landlords Have Changes Coming To How They Run Their Properties
Carpentersville (A License Tied To A Class)
Carpentersville updated how you get a residential rental license. Now, before the village will issue your license, you have to show proof that you completed a Crime Free Housing Seminar run by the Carpentersville Police Department. You also have to sign an affidavit tied to your leases.
This is a smaller change than the others, but it has teeth, because no class means no license. I could not pin down the exact date the village adopted it, so treat this as on the books and confirm the current steps with the village before you apply or renew.
Wayne (What We Know, And What We Do Not)
Wayne is the one with a question mark. Earlier in 2026, the Village of Wayne board was talking through a rental ordinance. The early version floated a rental registration fee, occupancy limits, inspections, age rules for renters, and an owner occupancy requirement that would have effectively shut out investor owned rentals. One trustee pushed for a three strikes style enforcement setup, and the village attorney was told to draft formal language for a future meeting.
That is where the public trail goes cold. At our last check we could not confirm whether Wayne actually voted it into law. Wayne is a tiny village, and its meeting minutes are not easy to find online, so the cleanest way to confirm is to call the village or pull the recent board minutes yourself.
If you own in Wayne and want to know for sure, contact the village clerk and ask whether the rental ordinance from early 2026 was adopted, and if so, the ordinance number and the effective date.
What This Means For You
Five towns, five different speeds. But the direction is the same. Local governments want to know who owns the rentals, and more of them want to inspect. Whether you own one house or a hundred units, here is the simple game plan.
Know which towns your properties sit in, and check each one's current rental rules. They are all different.
Clean up your ownership records now, so a registry does not catch you flat footed.
Make your tenant screening fair, consistent, and written down.
Build a little time and budget for inspections, since that is where most of these programs are heading.
If you want a refresher on how city rental licensing and registration works in general, our team put together a simple guide. You can read our City Rental License Landlord FAQ.
FAQ
Which of these changes are already law? Evergreen Park and Pingree Grove have passed their new rules. Carpentersville's crime free class requirement is on the books. Chicago's Protecting Renters Ordinance is still a proposal. Wayne is unconfirmed.
Do these rules hit single family rental owners? Often, yes. Chicago's proposed registry would include single family rentals you do not live in. Many suburban programs cover single family rentals too. Always check the specific town.
What is the biggest operational change in Evergreen Park? The showing rules. You cannot use a lockbox to show an open unit, and you or your agent must be present when a prospect tours it. The empty unit reporting and weekly check rule is also new.
Did Wayne pass its rental ordinance? We do not know. It was a proposal in early 2026 and we could not confirm a vote. Call the village clerk to get a clear answer.
What should I do if I own in more than one town? Make a short list of every town you own in and look up the rental rules for each one. They do not match, and the penalties for missing a step can be steep.
Don't Go At This Alone!
Rules across Chicagoland change fast, and they do not change the same way in every town. At GC Realty and Development we manage around 1,500 units for more than 500 investors, and keeping up with all of this is our full time job. We know which town wants what, the timelines, the paperwork, and the people who enforce it. When a new ordinance lands, our owners do not lose sleep, because we handle it.
Mark's Mission: My personal mission is to help property owners across Chicagoland keep more of their time, more of their money, and less of the risk that comes with running rentals in one of the most regulated markets in the country.
If you want a property manager that stays up on what is going on and watches out for your interest, let's jump on a call.
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