Free Cook County RTLO Summary Disclosure

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A cover disclosure and acknowledgment for attaching the Cook County RTLO Summary to a suburban Cook County lease. The Residential Tenant and Landlord Ordinance took effect June 1, 2021 and reaches suburban Cook County outside the City of Chicago, Evanston, and Mount Prospect. Attach the County RTLO Summary, disclose where the deposit is held, and download it as a PDF.

Effective June 1, 2021 Cook County Code Ch. 42 Suburban Cook County Free PDF

A landlord renting a covered unit in suburban Cook County must attach the County-published Cook County RTLO Summary to the written lease and at each renewal, and follow the ordinance’s security-deposit, notice, and habitability rules. The Cook County Residential Tenant and Landlord Ordinance (Cook County Code Chapter 42, Sections 42-800 et seq.), enacted by Ordinance No. 20-3562, took effect June 1, 2021. It applies to residential rentals in suburban Cook County outside the City of Chicago, which has its own Chicago RLTO, and outside municipalities such as Evanston and Mount Prospect that have their own substantially-similar ordinances. This cover disclosure documents that you attached the RTLO Summary and states where the security deposit is held. Our Illinois landlord-tenant laws overview covers the rest of the tenancy.

Complete the fields below to generate a Cook County RTLO Summary attachment and disclosure for a covered suburban Cook County rental. Attach the current County RTLO Summary to the lease, keep proof of delivery, and repeat at renewal. If you are also placing a new renter, our Illinois tenant screening laws guide covers what you may check at application.

The Cook County Residential Tenant and Landlord Ordinance is a countywide renters’-rights law adopted by the Cook County Board of Commissioners in January 2021 through Ordinance No. 20-3562 and effective June 1, 2021. It sits in the Cook County Code under Chapter 42 (Human Relations), at Sections 42-800 and following, and is administered by the Cook County Commission on Human Rights. Before the RTLO, most suburban Cook County tenancies were governed only by the Illinois Compiled Statutes and any local ordinance; the RTLO layered a comprehensive set of county rules on top for the parts of the county it reaches. Because the exact article and section numbering has been presented differently across County materials, always confirm the current text of the ordinance and the Illinois landlord-tenant laws that continue to apply alongside it.

The geography is the single most important thing to get right, and it is what makes this form different from a Chicago form. The Cook County RTLO applies to residential rentals in suburban Cook County, meaning the parts of the county outside the City of Chicago. Chicago is carved out because the City has its own, older and broader Chicago Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance (Chicago Municipal Code Chapter 5-12). Certain suburbs are also carved out because they either opted out or already had their own substantially-similar tenant-landlord ordinance; Evanston and Mount Prospect are the commonly cited examples. A landlord in Oak Park, Cicero, Berwyn, Skokie, or another covered suburb follows the County RTLO; a landlord inside Chicago follows the Chicago RLTO; and a landlord in an opt-out suburb follows that suburb’s own rules.

Coverage under the RTLO is broad within suburban Cook County. Almost all residential rental units are included, and the anti-lockout protections that bar self-help eviction reach every rental unit, even ones otherwise exempt. The most common exemption is for owner-occupied buildings of six or fewer units where the owner, or a member of the owner’s immediate family, actually lives in the building and has done so within the recent past. That exemption is narrow: it turns on the building being small, owner-occupied, and the owner using it as a residence, so a small building owned by an out-of-town investor is not exempt merely because it has few units. Short-term and transient arrangements, units in certain institutions, and owner-occupied cooperatives are among the other categories County materials treat differently, so a landlord should read the current ordinance and RTLO Summary before assuming an exemption applies.

The signature requirement that gives this page its name is the ordinance’s mandate that the landlord attach the County-published RTLO Summary to the written lease. Cook County, through the Commission on Human Rights, publishes a plain-language summary of the ordinance that explains the core rights and duties: the deposit rules, notice requirements, essential-services and repair obligations, and the tenant’s remedies. The landlord must attach that summary to the lease at the time of signing, and again when the lease is renewed, so a long-term tenant receives a current copy at each renewal. If a landlord forgets, the ordinance provides a short cure window, generally two business days after notice, to attach the summary and correct that administrative lapse. Keeping a signed acknowledgment, like the one this form produces, is the cleanest way to prove the summary was delivered. Pairing the attachment with sound Illinois tenant screening at application keeps the whole move-in clean and compliant.

Security deposits are the most detailed part of the ordinance, and the disclosure this form captures. A covered landlord may not demand or receive a deposit greater than one and one-half times the monthly rent. If the landlord collects more than one month’s rent as a deposit, the portion above one month may be paid by the tenant in up to six equal installments over the first six months of the lease, easing the up-front burden on the tenant. The deposit must be held in a federally insured financial institution located in Illinois, kept separate from the landlord’s own money, and the landlord must give the tenant a signed receipt identifying the amount, the date, the unit, and the person who received it.

The ordinance itself does not set a deposit-interest rate. Interest on residential security deposits in Illinois is instead governed by the Illinois Security Deposit Interest Act (765 ILCS 715), which applies to buildings or complexes with twenty-five or more units. For a covered large building, interest accrues on a deposit held more than six months at the state-published rate and is paid to the tenant annually or credited at move-out. A building with twenty-four or fewer units is not subject to that state interest act, but every other RTLO deposit rule, the cap, the separate account, the receipt, and the return timeline, still applies. At the end of the tenancy, the landlord must return the deposit within thirty days of the tenant vacating, and any deductions must be itemized in writing. Permitted deductions are limited to unpaid rent and court costs and a reasonable amount to repair damage beyond ordinary wear and tear; attorney’s fees are not a permitted deduction. Our Illinois security deposit laws guide covers the statewide backdrop.

The article-and-section numbering above reflects how Cook County has presented the RTLO; the enacting Ordinance No. 20-3562 and the June 1, 2021 effective date are the fixed reference points. Always verify the current Cook County RTLO Summary and code text before relying on a specific citation.

The RTLO gives suburban Cook County tenants meaningful remedies, enforced through the Cook County Commission on Human Rights and the courts. For security deposits, a landlord who wrongfully withholds a deposit or fails to comply with the deposit rules can owe the tenant damages equal to two times the security deposit plus reasonable attorney’s fees. For habitability and essential-services problems, the ordinance provides repair-and-deduct style remedies, the ability to procure essential services and charge the landlord when the landlord fails to supply heat, water, or other essentials, and the right to terminate the tenancy when conditions are serious enough. A landlord who unlawfully locks a tenant out or shuts off essential services faces additional penalties, and those anti-lockout provisions apply even to units that are otherwise exempt from the ordinance. The failure to attach the RTLO Summary is an administrative violation with a short cure window, but repeated or willful noncompliance with the ordinance’s substantive rights can support broader relief.

• Using the Chicago RLTO summary for a suburban Cook County unit, or the County summary inside Chicago
• Forgetting to attach the RTLO Summary at signing, or failing to re-attach it at renewal
• Charging a deposit above one and one-half months’ rent
• Commingling the deposit with personal funds instead of a separate Illinois account
• Failing to give a signed deposit receipt with the required details
• Missing the thirty-day return or omitting the itemized deductions
• Assuming no interest is ever owed when the building has twenty-five or more units
• Claiming the owner-occupied exemption without confirming the six-or-fewer-unit and residency conditions
• Ignoring the anti-lockout rule, which applies to every unit, even exempt ones

• Confirm the municipality first so you use the County RTLO, the Chicago RLTO, or an opt-out suburb’s rules correctly
• Download the current County RTLO Summary from cookcountyil.gov/rtlo for every new lease
• Attach the summary and this disclosure at signing and re-attach at each renewal
• Cap the deposit at one and one-half months’ rent and offer the installment option above one month
• Hold the deposit in a separate federally insured Illinois account and give a signed receipt
• Track the twenty-five-unit line so you pay deposit interest when the state act applies
• Return the deposit within thirty days with itemized deductions and keep proof
• Consult Illinois counsel for close exemption calls or disputed deductions

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