Free Chicago Rent Increase Notice

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Illinois preempts rent control, so there is no cap on how much you can raise the rent in Chicago — but the Chicago Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance requires written notice on a sliding scale by how long the tenant has lived in the unit: 30 days under six months, 60 days from six months to three years, and 120 days after three years (Section 5-12-130(j)). Generate a clean notice below.

30 / 60 / 120-day (Fair Notice) Chicago Muni Code 5-12-130(j) Chicago Free PDF

This Chicago Rent Increase Notice raises the rent under the Chicago Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance (RLTO). Illinois law preempts rent control statewide (50 ILCS 825), so there is no cap on the amount — but Chicago’s Fair Notice rule sets the timing: give 30 days’ written notice if the tenant has lived in the unit under six months, 60 days’ from six months to three years, and 120 days’ after three years (Section 5-12-130(j)). Our how to raise rent guide covers the timing, and the tenant screening laws by state hub helps you place reliable tenants in the first place.

Complete the fields below to generate a Chicago rent increase notice. The new rent and effective date must give the tenant the full statutory notice period. Service should comply with the Chicago Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance; retain proof of service.

A Chicago rent increase notice is the written notice a landlord gives to raise the rent — or to require a higher rent on renewal — on a tenancy governed by the Chicago Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance (RLTO), Municipal Code Chapter 5-12. Chicago is a market-rate city: there is no rent control and no cap on how much the rent can go up. That is not a local choice but a state mandate — the Illinois Rent Control Preemption Act (50 ILCS 825), enacted in 1997, forbids every unit of local government in Illinois, including home-rule Chicago, from adopting or enforcing any ordinance that controls the amount of rent. What Chicago regulates instead is when and how an increase can take effect, and it does that through the Fair Notice provision and the length of the tenant’s occupancy.

The Fair Notice rule lives in Section 5-12-130(j) of the RLTO, which the City Council adopted in July 2020 to replace a flat 30-day rule. It requires written notice before a landlord raises the rent or requires a tenant to pay an increased rent, and the amount of notice scales with how long the tenant has continuously occupied the unit: at least 30 days’ written notice if the tenant has lived there less than six months, at least 60 days if from six months to three years, and at least 120 days if more than three years. Crucially, occupancy is measured by the tenant’s total continuous time in the same unit, not by the number of leases signed — renewing the lease, signing a new one, or a change of ownership does not reset the clock. If a landlord gives less than the required notice, the tenant may remain at the existing rent for the balance of the notice period running from the date notice is actually given, so the increase is unenforceable until then.

The reach of 5-12-130(j) is unusually broad. The RLTO generally exempts owner-occupied buildings of six dwelling units or fewer from its coverage, but Section 5-12-020 carves those buildings back in for two purposes — the notice requirements of 5-12-130 and the unlawful-interference rules of 5-12-160. The practical result is that the Fair Notice rent-increase tiers apply to essentially every Chicago rental, including the small owner-occupied two- and three-flats that are otherwise outside the ordinance. A landlord in such a building still cannot raise the rent without the 30-, 60-, or 120-day notice the tenant’s tenure requires.

Even without a cap, an increase can still be unlawful because of its motive or its timing within a lease term. On a fixed-term lease the rent is locked for the term and cannot be raised mid-lease unless the lease itself contains an escalation clause; any increase takes effect at renewal, with the 5-12-130(j) notice running before the lease end date. The RLTO’s anti-retaliation section, 5-12-150, bars a landlord from raising the rent in retaliation after a tenant complains of a code or habitability violation, requests repairs, contacts a government agency about the building, or organizes or joins a tenants’ association. Federal fair housing law and the Chicago Fair Housing Ordinance independently bar an increase aimed at a tenant because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, disability, or another protected characteristic. A Chicago increase is also distinct from the rest of Illinois: the no-cap rule is statewide, but the 30/60/120-day tiered notice is a Chicago ordinance — outside the city, Illinois has no statewide rent-increase notice statute, and some suburbs (and Cook County’s own ordinance) set their own rules.

Because the RLTO does not fix a single mandatory method to serve a 5-12-130(j) notice, the practical standard is provable written delivery within the required period. Personal delivery to the tenant, a copy left with an occupant at the unit plus a mailed copy, certified mail with a return receipt, or first-class mail all work; email or a tenant portal is fine only when the lease authorizes electronic notice, and mailing adds days for receipt. Whatever the method, the notice should state the current rent, the new rent, and the effective date, and the landlord should keep a signed, dated copy with proof of delivery. Our how to raise rent guide walks through the timing, and screening applicants with verified reports keeps tenancies stable so the increases you serve actually stick.

Put together, a clean Chicago increase is simple but exact: confirm the unit is covered (including the small owner-occupied buildings that 5-12-130(j) still reaches), measure the tenant’s continuous occupancy to pick the 30-, 60-, or 120-day tier, keep the timing outside the 5-12-150 retaliation bar, deliver the notice in writing with proof before the lease end or renewal date, and never let the increase track a tenant’s protected complaint. None of this replaces the screening you do at move-in — a tenant chosen for steady income and a clean payment history is the one most likely to absorb a lawful increase without a dispute.

• No rent cap and no rent control — the Illinois Rent Control Preemption Act (50 ILCS 825) bars Chicago and every Illinois city from limiting the amount of rent.
• Written Fair Notice on a sliding scale — Section 5-12-130(j) requires at least 30 days’ notice if the tenant has lived in the unit under six months, 60 days from six months to three years, and 120 days after three years.
• Occupancy, not lease count, drives the tier — the notice period is set by the tenant’s total continuous time in the same unit; a new lease or new owner does not reset it.
• Owner-occupied buildings of six units or fewer still apply — they are otherwise RLTO-exempt, but Section 5-12-020 keeps 5-12-130(j) in force for them.
• No mid-term increase on a fixed-term lease unless the lease expressly allows it; the increase applies at renewal.
• No retaliatory increase (RLTO 5-12-150) and no discriminatory increase based on a protected class (federal Fair Housing Act and the Chicago Fair Housing Ordinance).

• The RLTO sets no single mandatory method to serve a 5-12-130(j) notice — the goal is provable written delivery within the required period.
• Personal delivery to the tenant, or a copy left with an occupant at the unit plus a mailed copy.
• Certified mail with a return receipt, or U.S. first-class mail, gives a dated paper trail; allow added days for receipt when you mail.
• Email or a tenant portal works only if the lease authorizes electronic notice; keep the send record either way.

• Giving 30 days when the tenant has lived in the unit longer — six months to three years needs 60 days, and over three years needs 120 days.
• Counting from the latest lease instead of the tenant’s total continuous occupancy in the same unit.
• Assuming a small owner-occupied building is fully exempt — 5-12-130(j) still applies to it.
• Raising the rent mid-term on a fixed-term lease that does not allow it.
• Raising the rent right after a tenant’s repair request or code complaint — RLTO 5-12-150 treats that as retaliation — or relying on a verbal notice with no proof of delivery.

• Pin down the tenant’s continuous move-in date first — it sets whether you owe 30, 60, or 120 days.
• Serve the notice well before the lease end or renewal date so the full Fair Notice period clears before the new rent starts.
• State the current rent, the new rent, and the effective date plainly, and note the notice period you are giving.
• Deliver by a method you can prove, and avoid timing an increase right after a tenant complaint.

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