Free Illinois Flood Zone Disclosure — overview

An Illinois Flood Zone Disclosure records facts the landlord is required by statute to disclose. Illinois rental law does have a flood-specific disclosure statute: 765 ILCS 705/25, added to the Landlord and Tenant Act by Public Act 103-754 and in force since January 1, 2025. Most Illinois lease templates still do not carry it. Failure to make the floodplain disclosure lets a tenant who later learns the property is in the Special Flood Hazard Area terminate by written notice no later than the 30th day after becoming aware, with all rent and fees paid in advance refunded by the 15th day after that notice; and if either disclosure is missed and flooding then damages the tenant’s personal property, affects habitability or affects access, the tenant may terminate on the same terms and sue for the property lost or damaged. Farm leases, concession leases and property owned or managed by the Department of Natural Resources are exempt. The form on this page produces a comprehensive Illinois flood-zone disclosure.

Complete the Disclosure Form

Complete the form below to generate a comprehensive Illinois Flood Zone Disclosure. The form produces a multi-page PDF in legal-document format with all sections, signature lines, and tenant acknowledgment. Both parties should sign the printed copy.

About Illinois Flood Zone Disclosure

Illinois regulates flood disclosure on both sides of a transaction. For RENTALS the governing section is 765 ILCS 705/25 of the Landlord and Tenant Act, which is mandatory and prescribes substantially the wording to be used, including the tenant and landlord signature lines. For SALES the governing statute is the Residential Real Property Disclosure Act at 765 ILCS 77, whose report form at 765 ILCS 77/35 carries flood-hazard and recurring-flooding limbs. Note that much Illinois coverage – and an earlier version of this page – cited “765 ILCS 5/35.5” for the sales duty; no such section exists in the Illinois Compiled Statutes. Chicago adds further protections under the RLTO.

Illinois’s Flood Disclosure Framework

• Rental disclosure statute: 765 ILCS 705/25 (P.A. 103-754, eff. 1-1-2025) – mandatory
• Sales disclosure statute: 765 ILCS 77, Residential Real Property Disclosure Act (report form at 765 ILCS 77/35)
• Rental status: required by statute, and the disclosure must also be included in the written lease or renewal lease and signed by both parties
• Implied warranty of habitability: Illinois common law and Chicago RLTO
• Statutory lookback: 10 years of prior flooding, per 765 ILCS 705/25
• Tenant remedies under habitability law: repair, rent abatement, lease termination

What the Disclosure Covers

• FEMA flood zone designation
• Flooding events at the property over the past 10 years (765 ILCS 705/25 sets a 10-year window for a lower-level unit)
• Flood insurance status
• Whether the property has flood mitigation features

Tenant Reporting Responsibilities

Illinois tenants should review the flood disclosure carefully and consider obtaining personal flood insurance. Most renters insurance policies do not cover flood damage. Chicago and northeastern Illinois experience periodic flooding; properties along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers and Lake Michigan are particularly susceptible.

Related Resources

• Illinois habitability laws
• Illinois landlord tenant laws
• Illinois tenant screening laws
• Illinois security deposit laws
• Illinois eviction notice laws
• Habitability laws by state

Must an Illinois landlord disclose that a rental has flooded?

Yes. Illinois puts the flood-disclosure duty on residential landlords, not only on home sellers. It sits at Section 25 of the Illinois Landlord and Tenant Act, 765 ILCS 705/25, “Disclosure of potential flooding in rental and lease agreements,” added by Public Act 103-754 and amended by Public Act 104-417. The duty is statewide and imposes two disclosures; one unit can owe both.

The disclosure every Illinois landlord owes

Every landlord must clearly disclose in writing, prior to signing the lease, that the rental property is in the Federal Emergency Management Agency Special Flood Hazard Area — the statute’s own shorthand is the “100-year floodplain.” The same disclosure must state, where the landlord has actual knowledge that the property or any portion of its parking areas has been subjected to flooding, the frequency of that flooding. The actual-knowledge qualifier attaches only to the history limb, not to the FEMA designation.

The extra disclosure for lower-level units

Section 25 defines a “lower-level unit” as any garden level unit, basement level unit, or first floor level unit. A landlord leasing one must additionally disclose in writing, before signing, whether that unit or any portion of the real property containing it has experienced flooding in the last 10 years, and the frequency. Ten years is the only lookback Section 25 states; there is no shorter Illinois lookback.

What “flooding” means for Section 25

The statute supplies its own definition, broader than a river cresting. “Flood” and “flooding” mean partial or complete inundation of a dwelling or property caused by the overflow of inland or tidal waves; by the unusual and rapid accumulation of runoff or surface waters from any established water source such as a river, stream, or drainage ditch; or by rainfall. A garden unit that took water in a storm is inside it.

Form and timing

Illinois requires the disclosure twice: in writing before the lease is signed, and again inside the written lease or written renewal lease, signed by both parties. Renewals are named expressly, so they are not a free pass. Section 25 also prescribes wording — the disclosure must look substantially similar to the model paragraphs in the statute, which use “is or is not aware” checkboxes, a blank for flooding events in the last 10 years, and both signature lines.

What happens if an Illinois landlord skips the flood disclosure?

Section 25 gives the tenant termination rights and a damages claim on short clocks, under two triggers.

• Designation not disclosed. If the landlord fails the general disclosure and the tenant later becomes aware the property is in the Special Flood Hazard Area, the tenant may terminate by written notice no later than the 30th day after becoming aware. The landlord must then return all rent and fees paid in advance no later than the 15th day after that notice.
• Disclosure missing and flooding happens. If the landlord failed either disclosure and flooding occurs that damages the tenant’s personal property, affects habitability, or affects access to the unit, the tenant may terminate by written notice no later than the 30th day after the flood, with the same 15-day refund, and may sue for damages for personal property lost or damaged.

Section 25 sets no statutory penalty figure and no multiplier. The exposure is the refund, loss of the tenancy on short notice, and an uncapped personal-property damages claim.

Which Illinois rentals fall outside Section 25

Section 25 exempts farm leases, concession leases, and rental properties owned or managed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. That is the entire list — no small-landlord and no owner-occupied carve-out. An upper-floor unit is not exempt; it sits outside the lower-level-unit disclosure but inside the general one.

Does Chicago or any Illinois locality add its own flood-disclosure rule?

We found none, Chicago included. The City of Chicago’s current Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance summary publications, issued by the Chicago Department of Housing, carry no flood-disclosure provision. Suburban Cook County is a separate jurisdiction, never to be merged with Chicago: it runs under the Cook County Residential Tenant and Landlord Ordinance, Chapter 42, Article IV of the Cook County Code, which likewise has no flood-disclosure requirement. For both, Section 25 is the whole duty.

One real local hook sits inside the state statute: Section 25 closes by stating it may not be interpreted to permit renting, leasing, or subleasing lower-level units in a municipality that does not permit it. Making the disclosure does not legalize a basement or garden unit your municipality prohibits.

How should an Illinois landlord check flood-zone status before the lease?

Start with the federal map, because that is the source Section 25 points to. The statutory model language tells tenants that FEMA maintains a flood map on its Internet website, searchable by address, at no cost, to determine whether a dwelling is in a flood hazard area. That search answers the Special Flood Hazard Area limb; capture and date the result before the lease goes out.

The history limb comes from your own records, not a map. Keep, per address, the maintenance tickets, water-mitigation invoices, and insurance claims that establish how many flooding events occurred in the last 10 years, so the number on the disclosure is defensible rather than recalled. A recently acquired building is the weak point, and closing is the moment to ask the seller what it knows.

The insurance point is practice, not statutory authority. A landlord’s property policy insures the building; it does not insure a tenant’s contents. The statutory model disclosure warns tenants that most tenant insurance policies do not cover flood loss and encourages flood insurance through FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program. Requiring renters insurance by lease clause is your choice of term, not a Section 25 duty, and never substitutes for the disclosure.