{
    "dataset": "Homzora Chicago Disclosure and Entry Requirements 2026",
    "jurisdiction": "City of Chicago, Illinois",
    "scope": "The documents a Chicago landlord must provide, the disclosure obligations triggered by a tenant demand, and the notice required before entering a unit, under the Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance.",
    "the_two_documents": "Two separate summaries are required and they are commonly confused. The RLTO summary, prepared by the Department of Housing, must be attached to every lease and renewal. The Security Deposit Interest Rate Summary is a different document, required only where a deposit is held, and updated each January when the City Comptroller announces the new rate.",
    "the_disproportionate_penalty": "Failing to attach the RLTO summary lets the tenant terminate the lease and recover 100 dollars plus attorney fees. The dollar figure is small. The termination right is not, and it attaches on a documentation failure rather than on anything about the condition of the property or the conduct of the tenancy.",
    "entry_notice": "Two days notice for any non emergency entry, including routine inspections, with no exception beyond genuine emergencies and building wide repair necessity. Among the jurisdictions Homzora covers this is the strictest requirement. Georgia has no statutory entry notice at all.",
    "basis": "Compiled from published practitioner summaries of Municipal Code sections 5-12-050, 5-12-100 and 5-12-170, and from the City of Chicago RLTO summary.",
    "sources": [
        "City of Chicago Department of Housing, RLTO Summary",
        "Chicago Municipal Code sections 5-12-050, 5-12-100 and 5-12-170, as summarized by published practitioner sources, 2026"
    ],
    "verified": "2026-09-13",
    "note": "This is not legal advice and does not evaluate any particular tenancy. Whether the ordinance covers a specific building turns on owner occupancy, unit count and the nature of the accommodation. Cook County and Evanston operate their own ordinances.",
    "license": "CC BY 4.0 for the Homzora compilation.",
    "methodology": "https://homzora.co/chicago/guides/methodology/",
    "rows": [
        {
            "provision": "5-12-170",
            "subject": "The RLTO summary must be attached",
            "what_it_requires": "The City of Chicago Department of Housing prepares a written summary of the ordinance describing the rights, obligations and remedies of landlords and tenants. A landlord must attach it to each lease and to each renewal.",
            "key_figure": "every lease and renewal",
            "notes": "Separate from the Security Deposit Interest Rate Summary, which is a different document required where a deposit is held."
        },
        {
            "provision": "5-12-170",
            "subject": "What failing to attach it costs",
            "what_it_requires": "Where the summary is not attached, the tenant may terminate the lease and recover 100 dollars in damages, plus attorney fees and costs.",
            "key_figure": "termination plus 100 dollars",
            "notes": "A small sum with a disproportionate consequence, since the termination right attaches regardless of anything else about the tenancy."
        },
        {
            "provision": "5-12-100",
            "subject": "Disclosure on written demand",
            "what_it_requires": "Where a landlord fails to disclose required information within fourteen days of a tenant written demand, the tenant may recover one month rent or actual damages, whichever is greater, plus attorney fees and costs.",
            "key_figure": "one month rent or actual damages",
            "notes": "The tenant has to make the demand in writing first. The fourteen day clock runs from that."
        },
        {
            "provision": "5-12-050",
            "subject": "Two days notice before entry",
            "what_it_requires": "A landlord must give at least two days notice before entering a unit for a non emergency purpose. The notice may be given by mail, telephone, written notice or any other means designed in good faith to provide actual notice.",
            "key_figure": "2 days",
            "notes": "One published source describes this as at least forty eight hours, which is the same requirement expressed differently."
        },
        {
            "provision": "5-12-050",
            "subject": "What entry covers",
            "what_it_requires": "Making repairs, supplying services and performing necessary inspections.",
            "key_figure": "stated purposes",
            "notes": ""
        },
        {
            "provision": "5-12-050",
            "subject": "Emergency entry",
            "what_it_requires": "No prior notice is required in an emergency. In that case the tenant must allow access without receiving the two days notice.",
            "key_figure": "no notice",
            "notes": "Entry arising from a building wide repair necessity is also exempt from the notice requirement."
        },
        {
            "provision": "5-12-050",
            "subject": "Everything else needs the full notice",
            "what_it_requires": "All other entries, including routine maintenance checks and inspections, require the full two day notice without exception.",
            "key_figure": "no exceptions",
            "notes": ""
        },
        {
            "provision": "coverage",
            "subject": "Who the ordinance covers",
            "what_it_requires": "Most residential rental units in Chicago, including single family homes, condominiums, apartments and multi unit buildings.",
            "key_figure": "most city rentals",
            "notes": ""
        },
        {
            "provision": "coverage",
            "subject": "Key exemptions",
            "what_it_requires": "Owner occupied buildings with six or fewer units, certain subsidized housing, and transient accommodations.",
            "key_figure": "owner occupied six or fewer",
            "notes": "One published compliance guide advises assuming the ordinance applies unless the position has been confirmed with an attorney."
        },
        {
            "provision": "comparison",
            "subject": "Entry notice elsewhere",
            "what_it_requires": "Georgia has no statute specifying any minimum advance notice before a landlord may enter. Florida requires twelve hours. Chicago requires two days.",
            "key_figure": "Chicago is the strictest",
            "notes": "Among the jurisdictions Homzora covers, Chicago gives a tenant the most notice before entry and Georgia gives none at all."
        }
    ]
}