Security Deposits in Chicago
Your landlord has strict rules to follow with your security deposit. This playbook covers the Chicago Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance (RLTO) and Illinois state law. It lists the deadlines, the penalties, the steps to take, and where to get free help.
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Your security deposit is your money, not the landlord's. Chicago law makes the landlord keep it in an insured bank account in Illinois. The landlord cannot mix it with the landlord's own money.
The landlord must hand you a signed receipt when taking your deposit. No receipt means you can demand the whole deposit back right away.
✓ Sources checked August 27, 2026
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Your written lease must name the bank that holds your deposit. If you have no written lease, the landlord must send you the bank's name and address within 14 days. You earn interest if the landlord holds your deposit more than 6 months. The landlord must pay you that interest within 30 days after each 12 months of renting. Payment can be cash or a credit toward rent. After you move out, the landlord has 45 days to return your deposit plus interest. Mark the date on a calendar.
✓ Sources checked August 27, 2026
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The landlord can deduct only unpaid rent and the cost of damage you caused. Normal wear does not count as damage. To deduct for damage, the landlord must mail you an itemized cost list within 30 days. Paid repair receipts must follow within another 30 days.
✓ Sources checked August 27, 2026
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If the landlord breaks any of these deposit rules, a court awards you 2 times your deposit, plus interest. For a $1,500 deposit, that penalty is $3,000. You also get your original deposit back.
✓ Sources checked August 27, 2026
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Illinois state law adds protection in buildings with 5 or more units. If the landlord sends no itemized damage statement with receipts, the full deposit must come back within 45 days of move out. A court can also make the landlord pay you twice the deposit, plus court costs and lawyer fees. This happens when the landlord withholds the statement or supplies it in bad faith and misses the refund deadline.
✓ Sources checked August 24, 2026
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Take this step when you move out: give the landlord your new mailing address or email in writing. Keep a copy. State law cancels the landlord's penalties if you never gave an address.
✓ Sources checked August 24, 2026
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