Free Illinois Rent Concession Disclosure

It requires you to mark the lease, not merely to describe the deal somewhere. Under 765 ILCS 730/3, when a rent concession is made the lessor must, at the time the lease is made or immediately after, cause the lease to bear the legend “Concession Granted” across its face and text, plainly legible, in letters not less than one-half inch in height, and to bear a memorandum on the margin or across the face stating the amount or extent and the nature of each concession. The section adds that any failure to do so is unlawful and a violation of the Act.

765 ILCS 730/2 defines it broadly. A concession is made when, in the case of a written lease, the lessor before or at the time the lease is entered into, and in consideration of it, directly or indirectly gives or promises the lessee, without express mention in the lease, any of three things: a credit on the rent reserved or a rebate of rent after payment; the right, privilege or license to occupy the premises for a period other than the lease term rent free or at less than the average rent fixed by the lease; or any other valuable thing, right or privilege.

Two carve-outs sit at the end of 765 ILCS 730/2. Repairing and decorating the leased premises by the lessor is not deemed a rent concession. And an agreement by a lessor to waive any of the terms or conditions of the lease other than those relating to the payment of rent is not deemed a rent concession either. So repainting before move-in, or agreeing to relax a parking or storage clause, does not by itself trigger the legend requirement. A month of free rent, a rebate, or a move-in credit does, because those go to the payment of rent.

Read the two sections separately, because they punish different conduct. 765 ILCS 730/3 makes the failure to apply the legend and memorandum unlawful and a violation of the Act. The criminal penalty is narrower: 765 ILCS 730/6 makes it a Class A misdemeanor to use or exhibit a lease or other written evidence of leasing that does not carry the required endorsement, for the purpose of selling or effecting a sale of the premises or a loan on them. In other words, the offense is aimed at showing an unmarked lease to a buyer or lender.

Not primarily the tenant. 765 ILCS 730/1 states the purpose in its own words: to regulate the practice of making written leases that, because of concessions, do not truly state the real net rent being paid, a practice that can mislead prospective purchasers, prospective lessees and lenders of money secured on the real estate into believing the rental or market value is greater than it really is. That framing explains the rest of the Act, including why 765 ILCS 730/4 makes it unlawful for any person knowing of a concession to exhibit an unmarked lease to those audiences.

No. 765 ILCS 730/5a provides that the Act has no application to farm or agricultural property, or property used as such, nor to any leases or evidences of leasing executed relative to it. Note also the scope built into 765 ILCS 730/2: the Act speaks throughout to written leases, and a concession is defined by reference to a written lease of real estate. Section 765 ILCS 730/5 adds that lessor, lessee and person include the plural and include corporations, so an entity landlord cannot sidestep the Act by pointing at its corporate form.

On its own, no. The duty in 765 ILCS 730/3 attaches to the lease document itself, and the statute describes a legend across the face and text of that lease plus a memorandum on its margin or face. A standalone concession disclosure, however clear, is not what the section asks for. Use this form for what it is good at, which is recording the concession type, amount, period and conditions so both sides can prove what was agreed, and still apply the legend and the memorandum to the executed lease.

The Rent Concession Act regulates disclosure, not price. Nothing in 765 ILCS 730 caps a concession or dictates its shape, and Illinois separately forbids local rent regulation: 50 ILCS 825/5 bars a unit of local government from enacting, maintaining or enforcing an ordinance controlling the amount of rent charged for private residential or commercial property, and 50 ILCS 825/10 extends that denial to home rule units. So the constraint on a free-month or reduced-rent offer is the marking requirement, plus any lease terms you write around forfeiture, and in Chicago the separate duties of that city’s ordinance.