Statutory cap, exemptions, and notice rules under 50 ILCS 825/ (Rent Control Preemption Act, 1997)
Start with the bottom line: Illinois has no rent cap, and no Illinois city or county is allowed to create one. The Rent Control Preemption Act of 1997 (50 ILCS 825/) strips every unit of local government of the power to regulate rent, and it remains in force in 2025. That includes Chicago. The "Lift the Ban" questions that appeared on Chicago ballots in 2018 and after were non-binding advisory referendums; they carry no legal force while the state ban stands, and Chicago has never enacted a rent stabilization ordinance.
What replaces a cap in Illinois is a notice regime. A landlord may raise rent by any amount when the lease allows it, but the increase requires proper written notice; Chicago requires 30, 60, or 120 days depending on the length of the lease. Average rent statewide is $1,021, and Illinois scores 4.1 on our 10-point tenant-protection scale.
Illinois is one of the states that settled the rent-control question at the statehouse rather than city by city. The Rent Control Preemption Act (50 ILCS 825/), passed in 1997, prohibits every city, county, and other unit of local government from enacting any form of rent control. The ban is categorical: there is no carve-out for home-rule cities, so even Chicago cannot act on its own.
That is why the Chicago ballot measures confuse so many renters. Voters in several wards approved "Lift the Ban" questions starting in 2018, but those were advisory referendums, a poll of public sentiment with no legal effect. A 2024 bill to repeal the preemption stalled in committee, so the ban stays in place until the General Assembly says otherwise. Until then, any local rent-cap ordinance would be void the day it passed.
With no cap on the amount, the enforceable limits in Illinois are about timing and paperwork. A rent increase must be delivered in proper written notice before it takes effect, and Chicago sets tiered deadlines: 30, 60, or 120 days depending on the length of the lease, with the longest-standing tenancies entitled to the longest runway.
Outside Chicago, the lease itself does most of the work. A fixed-term lease locks the rent for its term unless the document says otherwise, and the increase lands at renewal. For month-to-month tenants, the landlord must still give written notice that satisfies the lease and local rules before the new amount is due. An increase announced verbally, or served late, is the kind that fails in court, not because it was too large, but because the notice was defective.
No cap does not mean no exposure. The three recurring mistakes we see in Illinois:
The size of an Illinois rent increase is almost never the legal problem; the timing, the paperwork, and the motive are.
Two figures frame the calculator above. The statewide average rent of $1,021 is the baseline most Illinois increases are measured against; because there is no statutory cap, the calculator applies your own proposed percentage rather than a state formula, which is exactly what the law allows.
Illinois's tenant-protection score of 4.1 out of 10 reflects that posture: no rent cap, no statewide just-cause requirement for non-renewal, and a preemption statute that keeps cities out of the field. What keeps the score off the floor is the notice architecture, Chicago's tiered deadlines chief among it, plus the retaliation and discrimination backstops described above. Landlords get pricing freedom; tenants get lead time and a clean-motive requirement, not a ceiling.
| Rule | Requirement | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Statewide cap | N/A, rent control banned | 50 ILCS 825/ (Rent Control Preemption Act, 1997) |
| 2025 maximum increase | No limit | |
| Notice required | Typically 30-60 days written notice | State landlord-tenant law |
| Retaliation prohibited | Yes, increases cannot be retaliatory or discriminatory | Federal Fair Housing Act + state law |
There is no limit on the amount. Illinois has no state rent cap, and the Rent Control Preemption Act (50 ILCS 825/) forbids cities and counties from creating one. The only constraints are the lease term itself and written-notice requirements, such as Chicago's 30, 60, or 120-day tiers based on the length of the lease.
No. The 1997 Rent Control Preemption Act bans every unit of local government, including home-rule cities like Chicago, from enacting rent control. Chicago's 2018 and later "Lift the Ban" ballot questions were non-binding advisory referendums, and a 2024 bill to repeal the preemption stalled in committee, so the statewide ban remains in force.
The increase must come in proper written notice. In Chicago, the required lead time is 30, 60, or 120 days depending on the length of the lease. Outside Chicago, the lease and local rules set the timing; an increase served without the required written notice is unenforceable even though the amount is unlimited.
Not on a fixed-term lease, unless the lease itself contains a clause allowing it. The agreed rent is locked until the term ends, and you can keep paying the original amount if a mid-lease raise is imposed without such a clause. Month-to-month tenants can face an increase at any time, but only with proper written notice.
This page was researched and written by the Eviction Risk Map research team based on the text of the Rent Control Preemption Act (50 ILCS 825/) as published by the Illinois General Assembly, together with Chicago's written-notice requirements for rent increases. Last reviewed July 2026. This material is informational only and is not legal advice; consult an Illinois landlord-tenant attorney about your specific situation.
Statutory data sourced from published Illinois law (50 ILCS 825/ (Rent Control Preemption Act, 1997)), BLS Consumer Price Index (2024-2025), and state agency publications. Census ACS 2023 5-Year Estimates for average rent. Last updated August 17, 2026. This page is informational only and does not constitute legal advice.
