{
    "dataset": "Homzora Chicago Notice Periods and Rent Increase Rules 2026",
    "jurisdiction": "City of Chicago and State of Illinois",
    "scope": "The notice a landlord must give before ending a tenancy or raising rent, under the Chicago Fair Notice Ordinance and Illinois state law, with the Cook County position noted for comparison.",
    "the_headline": "Chicago scales notice to tenancy length: 30 days under six months, 60 days from six months to three years, and 120 days beyond three years. The same tiers govern both non renewal and rent increases.",
    "why_it_matters": "Illinois has no rent control and cannot have any, because the state preempted it in 1997. What Chicago does instead is guarantee time. A tenant of four years facing an increase gets four months to budget, negotiate or find somewhere else, which is among the longest such windows in the country.",
    "basis": "Compiled from published summaries of Chicago Municipal Code 5-12-130 and Illinois statutes. The Fair Notice provisions were approved by the City Council in July 2020 and took effect on 20 October 2020.",
    "consistency_note": "Unusually for this kind of compilation, every source consulted agreed on the three tiers and on their application to both termination and rent increase. Where we found no disagreement we say so, in the same way we record it where we do.",
    "sources": [
        "Chicago Municipal Code 5-12-130, as summarized by published practitioner and legal aid guidance",
        "Illinois Code of Civil Procedure 735 ILCS 5/9-207",
        "Illinois Rent Control Preemption Act, 50 ILCS 825"
    ],
    "verified": "2026-09-13",
    "note": "This is not legal advice and does not evaluate any particular tenancy. Cook County and Evanston operate their own ordinances. If you have received a notice you believe is short, that is a question for a legal aid organization rather than a website.",
    "license": "CC BY 4.0 for the Homzora compilation.",
    "methodology": "https://homzora.co/chicago/guides/methodology/",
    "rows": [
        {
            "provision": "Chicago 5-12-130",
            "subject": "Under 6 months tenancy",
            "what_it_requires": "30 days written notice before non-renewal, termination or a rent increase.",
            "key_figure": "30 days",
            "notes": "Applies to both ending a tenancy and raising rent. The same tier governs each."
        },
        {
            "provision": "Chicago 5-12-130",
            "subject": "6 months to 3 years",
            "what_it_requires": "60 days written notice before non-renewal, termination or a rent increase.",
            "key_figure": "60 days",
            "notes": "A tenancy of exactly three years falls in this tier rather than the 120 day tier."
        },
        {
            "provision": "Chicago 5-12-130",
            "subject": "More than 3 years",
            "what_it_requires": "120 days written notice before non-renewal, termination or a rent increase.",
            "key_figure": "120 days",
            "notes": "Among the longest mandatory notice windows in the country. Most states require 30 days and even the longer ones top out around 60 to 90."
        },
        {
            "provision": "Chicago 5-12-130",
            "subject": "No minimum threshold",
            "what_it_requires": "The notice requirement does not depend on the size of the increase. A twenty five dollar rise requires the same notice as a five hundred dollar one.",
            "key_figure": "any amount",
            "notes": ""
        },
        {
            "provision": "Chicago 5-12-130",
            "subject": "How tenancy length is counted",
            "what_it_requires": "Total time living in the unit, regardless of transitions between lease types. Two years on a written lease followed by fourteen months month to month is a tenancy of three years and two months.",
            "key_figure": "total occupancy",
            "notes": "Which puts that example in the 120 day tier. Keeping a record of the original move in date matters more than any individual lease document."
        },
        {
            "provision": "Chicago 5-12-130",
            "subject": "Late or insufficient notice",
            "what_it_requires": "Where a landlord gives short notice, the required period runs from the date notice was actually given rather than from the lease termination date.",
            "key_figure": "runs from actual notice",
            "notes": "A thirty day notice served on a four year tenant does not become valid on day thirty one. It becomes a one hundred and twenty day period starting from the service date."
        },
        {
            "provision": "Chicago 5-12-130",
            "subject": "Owner occupied buildings",
            "what_it_requires": "The notice tiers apply to owner occupied buildings of six units or fewer, even though those buildings are otherwise outside the RLTO.",
            "key_figure": "tiers still apply",
            "notes": "A tenant not covered by the wider ordinance is still covered by Fair Notice. The right to cure does not extend to these buildings."
        },
        {
            "provision": "Chicago 5-12-130(b)",
            "subject": "Tenant cure right",
            "what_it_requires": "A ten day cure right for material noncompliance.",
            "key_figure": "10 days",
            "notes": "Does not apply in owner occupied buildings of six units or fewer."
        },
        {
            "provision": "Chicago 5-12-130",
            "subject": "Summary attachment",
            "what_it_requires": "A summary of the RLTO tenant rights must be attached to every termination notice.",
            "key_figure": "summary required",
            "notes": ""
        },
        {
            "provision": "735 ILCS 5/9-207",
            "subject": "Illinois month to month notice",
            "what_it_requires": "Thirty days notice to terminate a month to month tenancy under the Code of Civil Procedure.",
            "key_figure": "30 days",
            "notes": "The statewide floor. Inside Chicago the Fair Notice tiers apply on top and are longer for most tenancies."
        },
        {
            "provision": "50 ILCS 825",
            "subject": "No rent control anywhere in Illinois",
            "what_it_requires": "The Rent Control Preemption Act prohibits any unit of local government from regulating the amount of rent charged for private residential property.",
            "key_figure": "preempted",
            "notes": "Which is why Chicago can require 120 days notice of an increase but cannot limit its size."
        },
        {
            "provision": "765 ILCS 721",
            "subject": "Landlord Retaliation Act",
            "what_it_requires": "Illinois prohibits retaliation against a tenant for certain protected actions.",
            "key_figure": "statewide",
            "notes": "Homzora has not compiled the protected actions or remedies under this Act and does not publish them here."
        },
        {
            "provision": "Cook County RTLO",
            "subject": "Outside the city",
            "what_it_requires": "Suburban Cook County requires 60 days notice for lease non renewal and caps late fees at ten dollars for the first thousand dollars of monthly rent plus five percent of anything above that.",
            "key_figure": "60 days, capped late fees",
            "notes": "A different ordinance with different terms. A property a short distance outside the city limits may sit under this rather than the Chicago rules."
        }
    ]
}