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Author: Mark Ainely | Partner GC Realty & Development & Co-Host Straight Up Chicago Investor Podcast
Last week we kicked off our HB 3564 series with a breakdown of the new application fee limits. If you missed the bigger picture, our August article on HB 3564 and the January 2027 changes for all Illinois landlords covers the whole law at a high level. In the upcoming weeks we will be dissecting the changes for Chicago and suburban Landlords & real estate agents.
This week we are tackling the change that will touch every single lease signed after January 1, 2027. All non optional fees have to be listed on the first page of the lease, or the tenant does not have to pay them.
The first page rule affects everything monetary like pet rent, parking, move-in fees, admin fees, utility bill backs (RUBS), and anything else you plan to collect or might have to collect over the life of a lease. If it is required and it is not on page one, you can lose the right to collect it.
As with the first article, some of this is still open to interpretation. Where the statute is clear, I will tell you what it says. Where it is not clear, I will lay out the questions landlords need to think through. None of this is legal advice. It is one professional property manager's thoughts shared with fellow investors, so run your own lease by your attorney.
Rebuilding your lease anyway? Make sure your rent is keeping pace with the market.
When every fee has to be spelled out on page one and some fees are banned outright, rent becomes the number that carries the most weight in your bottom line. If your unit is sitting with below market rent, now is the time to fix it. Check where your unit stands with our free rental analysis.
Key Takeaways
Starting January 1, 2027, every non optional fee, whether one time or recurring, has to be explicitly listed on the first page of the lease.
Every landlord in Illinois will have to change their lease. Most Chicago area investors use Chicago Association of REALTORS or Mainstreet Organization of REALTORS forms, and the new versions usually come out close to the start of the year.
If a fee is not on page one, the tenant is not liable for it, even if it shows up later in the lease or in an addendum.
Non-optional fees also have to be disclosed clearly in any listing that includes the rent, or in a weblink that goes with the listing when it is posted.
Both the lease and the listing have to say whether utilities are included in the rent.
The law never defines "non optional," so the safest move is to put every fee you might charge on page one.
Every renewal signed after January 1, 2027 is a new lease agreement, so existing tenants will get the new page one at renewal.
Owner occupied buildings with 6 units or fewer are exempt.
A tenant can sue for damages, attorney's fees, and costs, and an uncollectible fee repeated across a portfolio adds up fast.
Who This Applies To
HB 3564 covers residential landlords everywhere in Illinois, not just Chicago or Cook County. A landlord in Naperville, Elgin, Joliet, or Woodstock has the same page one requirement as an owner on the North Side. It also reaches the property managers, leasing agents, and Realtors who write leases and post listings on an owner's behalf.
There is one exemption. The law does not apply to leases in an owner occupied building with 6 units or fewer. Both parts have to be true.
The owner actually lives in the building.
The building has 6 units or fewer.
If you are an out of state investor with a 3 flat then you are not exempt. If you have a 7 unit building and you live in one of the units you are still not exempt but if you are a House Hacker with a 3 flat then you are exempt. One thing to keep in mind if you are exempt now is what happens in 9 months when you buy your next house hack or move to the burbs? It doesn't hurt to follow these new rules regardless of your exemption status.
What the Law Actually Says
The disclosure rule is subsection (b) of the new Section 35 of the Illinois Landlord and Tenant Act. You can read the full text of 765 ILCS 705/35 on the Illinois General Assembly website.
Page one of the lease. All non optional fees, one time or recurring, have to be explicitly contained on the first page of the lease agreement. If a fee is not explicitly on the first page, the tenant is not liable for paying it.
The listing. Non-optional fees have to be disclosed in a clear and conspicuous way in any listing of the property, or in a weblink that accompanies the listing at the time it is posted.
Utilities. In the lease or the listing, the landlord has to disclose whether utilities are included in the rent.
The statute defines a listing as an advertisement or written notice that a property is for lease and that includes the rental price. So if an ad shows the rent, it needs the fees too.
Two other parts of Section 35 support this. A landlord cannot rename a fee to get around the rules, and any person who alleges a violation can sue for injunctive relief, monetary relief, attorney's fees, and costs. That is for all of you creative Landlords.
Every Illinois Lease Has to Change
I want to be clear about how big this is. Every landlord in Illinois is going to have to change their lease because of this law. I have not seen a single lease in use today that will be compliant on January 1, 2027. Standard forms were never built to put every fee on page one, and very few landlords keep all of their fees in one place up front.
Most Chicago area investors do not write their own leases. They use the standard residential lease from the Chicago Association of REALTORS or Mainstreet Organization of REALTORS, often through their agent or property manager. Those associations usually release their updated forms pretty close to the start of the year, so most of us will be waiting on the new versions before we finalize the new templates.
The Lease Renewal Question I Keep Getting
For the last 60 days, the question I hear most from Landlords is some version of this. "I am renewing my tenant right now in 2026, but the new lease starts in 2027. Does this new law apply already since the lease doesn't start till 2027?"
Based on how the statute is written, the answer is no. Section 35 applies to lease agreements entered into after January 1, 2027. Entered into means when the lease is signed, not when it starts. A renewal signed in 2026 with a February 2027 start date reads as a pre 2027 lease, and the old terms should carry through the full term.
That said, here is what I tell every owner who asks.
Signed means fully signed. If the renewal goes out in December and the tenant signs on January 4, that lease was entered into in 2027.
Changes in 2027 can restart the clock. If you amend or modify that lease after January 1, it could be argued that it became a new lease agreement.
Your next renewal is covered no matter what. Whatever you sign this year, the renewal after it needs the new page one and cannot include any of the banned fees.
So yes, you can renew in 2026 on your current lease. Just know you are buying yourself a year, not avoiding the change.
What Are Non Optional Fees?
This is the biggest open question in the whole rule, and the statute does not answer it. "Non optional" is never defined.
The easy ones are fees every tenant in the unit has to pay no matter what. A move-in fee, a monthly trash or water bill back, a required amenity fee, or a utility charge split among units. Those clearly belong on page one.
The harder ones are fees that only kick in depending on what the tenant chooses or does.
Pet fees and pet rent. Having a pet is optional. But once a tenant with a dog signs a lease, the pet fee is not optional for them. It belongs on page one of that tenant's lease.
Parking. If a space is truly a separate add on the tenant can decline, it is arguably optional. If parking comes with the unit and the charge is mandatory, it is not.
Resident benefit packages. If the package is required for every tenant, treat it as non optional. Ours at GC Realty is opt in, but even an opt in program should be clearly shown so there is no argument later about whether it was really a choice.
Late fees and returned payment fees. These only apply if the tenant pays late or a payment bounces. A landlord could argue they are conditional, not non optional. A tenant's attorney will argue the obligation to pay them is a required term of the lease. I would not want to be the test case so put it on page one.
Early termination and lease break fees. Same problem as late fees. Conditional, but tied to a required lease term.
If you are unsure whether a fee is optional, put it on page one. Listing a fee you might never charge costs you nothing. Leaving off a fee a court later decides was non optional costs you the fee and possibly the tenant's attorney's fees.
Why Page One Is Harder Than It Sounds
Moving fees to the front of the lease sounds like a quick edit. It is not.
Page one is already full. Most leases open with the parties, the address, the term, the rent, and the security deposit. Fitting a full fee schedule usually means redesigning the first page, not adding a line.
The Safer Homes summary still goes in front. Since January 1, 2026, the Summary of Rights for Safer Homes Act (765 ILCS 752) has required landlords to attach the state's Safer Homes summary to the front of every written residential lease, new or renewal, with the tenant initialing each page. HB 3564 does not change that. The way I read the two laws together, the Safer Homes summary sits at the front of the lease packet, and page one of the actual lease agreement, right behind it, is where the fees go. Neither statute mentions the other, so this is a reasonable reading rather than a settled answer, but it is the only way I see both laws working as written.
Addendums do not count. A lot of landlords keep their fees in a pet addendum, a parking addendum, a utility addendum, or a rules and regulations page. Under HB 3564, a fee that only appears in an addendum is not on the first page of the lease. The addendum can still explain the details, but the fee itself has to show up on page one.
The Listing Side of the Rule
The lease is just part of it. Any listing that includes the rent also has to disclose the non optional fees clearly, or link to them in a weblink posted with the listing.
Think about every place your rent shows up. Zillow, Apartments.com, the MLS, your own website, Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and any flyer or email blast with a price on it. Each one is a listing under the statute. A yard sign with only a phone number is not, because it has no rent on it.
The weblink option is the practical answer for most landlords. Some listing sites limit how much text you can add. A link to a fee schedule page for that property, posted at the same time as the listing, keeps you covered without fighting each platform's character limits. Just make sure the fees on that page match the fees on page one of the lease you end up signing. If the listing says $50 a month for parking and the lease says $75, you could have an issue.
The utilities piece is simple but easy to mess up. Every listing and lease needs to say whether utilities are included, and I would spell out which ones. "Heat and water included, tenant pays electric and gas" leaves no room for confusion.
What the Law Does Not Say
A lot of what is circulating online about HB 3564 came from earlier versions of the bill that limited late fees and restricted charging both a deposit and a move-in fee. The final law caps none of those and only requires that any non optional fee be on page one and in the listing, so check what you read against the actual statute before changing your fee structure.
What Renters Looking Should Know
You can finally see the real monthly cost. Today one unit might list at $1,800 with $200 a month in add-ons buried in the lease, and the unit down the street lists at $1,900 with nothing extra. Starting in 2027, the non optional fees have to show up in the listing and on page one, so you can see the real monthly cost before you apply.
Read page one before you sign. That is where every required fee has to be. If a landlord later tries to charge you a required fee that is not on the first page, the law says you are not liable for it.
Ask about utilities. The listing or lease has to say whether utilities are included. If it is vague, ask which ones before you apply. Utilities can swing your real monthly cost by a couple hundred dollars.
Renewing? Check the new page one. If you renew after January 1, 2027, your renewal lease should come with a page one that lists every required fee. Compare it to what you have been paying.
Do not forget the application fee rules. Your application fee is capped at $50, and the 2025 reusable screening report law can bring it to zero. We covered both in our breakdown of the new application fee limits.
FAQ
Q. What does HB 3564 require on the first page of a lease?
1. Every non optional fee, whether it is a one time fee or a recurring fee, has to be explicitly listed on the first page of the lease agreement.
Q. What happens if a fee is not on the first page?
1. The tenant is not liable for paying it, even if it appears somewhere else in the lease or in an addendum.
Q. What is a non optional fee?
1. The law does not define it. Fees every tenant must pay clearly qualify. Fees tied to tenant choices or behavior, like pet fees, late fees, and lease break fees, are gray areas, and the safest approach is to list them on page one.
Q. Do fees have to be in the rental listing too?
1. Yes. Any listing that includes the rent has to disclose non optional fees clearly, either in the listing itself or in a weblink posted with it.
Q. Do I have to say whether utilities are included?
1. Yes. The lease or the listing has to disclose whether utilities are included in the rent.
Q. Can I keep my fees in an addendum?
1. You can keep the details in an addendum, but the fee itself has to appear on page one. A fee that only appears in an addendum is not on the first page of the lease.
Q. Does this apply to lease renewals?
1. Yes. A renewal signed after January 1, 2027 is a new lease agreement, so it needs a compliant page one.
Q. Does this apply outside Chicago and Cook County?
1. Yes. It is a statewide law covering residential landlords everywhere in Illinois.
Q. Does this apply to my building if I live there?
1. Not if the building is owner occupied and has 6 units or fewer. Both have to be true.
Q. When does this take effect?
1. January 1, 2027, for lease agreements entered into after that date.
Q. Does the Safer Homes Act summary still go at the front of the lease?
1. Yes. That requirement has been in place since January 1, 2026, and HB 3564 does not change it. The Safer Homes summary goes at the front of the lease packet, and the fees go on the first page of the lease agreement itself.
Don't Go At This Alone!
The first page rule looks like a formatting change, but it touches your lease template, your listings, your ledger, and every renewal you sign next year. That is a lot of moving parts to keep in sync. We view this as a team sport. Who's on your team?
GC Realty & Development, LLC has a dedicated team of professionals with decades of experience across brokerage, leasing, and property management. We manage roughly 1,500 units across Chicagoland and handle close to 500 lease transactions a year, and we are already rebuilding our lease templates, listings, and fee schedules for HB 3564 so nothing slips through before January 1, 2027. Whether you hire us or not, we are happy to share what we have learned.
What gets me up in the morning and keeps me going for 12 hours a day is the ability to add value for 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. In return, they will one day hire us for tenant placement or property management, refer us to someone they know, or leave a review about our services. We would love all three, but we are happy whenever we get the opportunity to help.
Founder, Partner, Podcast Co-Host, and Investor
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