A Illinois rental application tells you who will live in your rental, where they have lived and how they will pay the rent. When every applicant answers the same questions, you can compare renters fairly and show that you did.
This guide covers what to ask, how to pre-screen leads, the federal and Illinois laws that apply, application fees, assistance animals, and how to approve or deny an applicant.
What should a Illinois rental application ask?
An application collects personal and financial details, so ask only what you need to apply your written rental criteria. Your Illinois rental application should ask for:
- Applicant and co-signer names, email, phone and date of birth,
- A Social Security number, entered securely,
- The desired move-in date and everyone who will live in the home,
- The current address and current landlord’s contact details,
- Employer, job title and monthly income,
- Any housing voucher or rental assistance,
- Pets, assistance animals, vehicles and smoking, and
- Past evictions and consent to screening.
The Rentari application covers all of this in six short sections. Renters can upload a pay stub, photo ID, bank statement or reference letter, and you choose which background questions to ask, with up to four of your own.
See it first: open the whole application before you send it.
Pre-screen your leads
Not every lead fits your rental. A short pre-screener shows who meets your basic criteria before anyone spends time or money on a full application.
Send the Rentari pre-screener from Leads. Your Illinois pre-screener asks every lead for:
- Monthly household income,
- Desired move-in date,
- How many people would live there,
- Pets, and what kind,
- Smoking, and
- A self-reported credit band.
When a lead’s answers fit, invite them to apply. Remember: pre-screener answers are what the renter tells you, so verify them with the application and screening.
Federal application laws
Federal law sets the baseline for every screening decision in Illinois. These five laws shape how you screen applicants:
Fair Housing Act (FHA): You may not treat applicants differently because of these seven protected characteristics:
- Race,
- Color,
- National origin,
- Religion,
- Sex,
- Familial status, or
- Disability
It also bars ads that show a preference and different rental terms for different applicants (42 U.S.C. § 3604).
Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA): Bars credit discrimination, including because income comes from public assistance. Courts differ on whether a lease counts as credit, so count assistance income the same way as wages (15 U.S.C. § 1691).
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Covers places open to the public, such as a leasing office. Disability rules for the rental home itself come from the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. § 12182).
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA): Covers credit, criminal and eviction reports. You need the renter’s consent before screening. Rentari collects it before our screening partner, RentButter, runs the checks (15 U.S.C. § 1681b).
Civil Rights Act of 1866: Bars race discrimination when renting any property, including homes the Fair Housing Act exempts, such as some small owner-occupied buildings (42 U.S.C. § 1982).
Criminal history: HUD warns that blanket bans on applicants with any criminal record can be discriminatory, and an arrest alone does not show that a person did anything.
Further reading: HUD fair housing rights and obligations and FTC guidance for landlords.
Illinois application laws
Beyond federal law, Illinois has its own rules on application fees and fair housing. Check both before you send an invite.
Illinois Law
Illinois application and screening fees
The rule: Illinois does not yet cap application fees, but you may not charge an application screening fee to an applicant who gives you a qualifying reusable tenant screening report. For leases signed after January 1, 2027, an application fee, including background checks, is capped at $50 (765 ILCS 705/30; 765 ILCS 705/35(c)(1)).
A reusable report qualifies if a consumer reporting agency prepared it in the last 30 days at the applicant's request and expense, it states the date its information is current through and includes the applicant's name, contact information, income verification, last known address and eviction history check, it reaches you directly or through a qualifying third-party website at no cost, and it covers all the criteria you consistently use to screen applicants (765 ILCS 705/30(b)(1); 765 ILCS 705/30(a)).
You may ask the applicant to state that nothing in the reusable report has materially changed, and you may still process an application as long as you charge no screening fee (765 ILCS 705/30(b)(2); 765 ILCS 705/30(d)).
A local rule that gives applicants more protection than the reusable report rule applies instead (765 ILCS 705/30(c)).
From 2027, you may charge more than $50 only for a third-party background check that actually costs more, that you paid for up front, and that you bill to the applicant with receipts within 14 days; otherwise the charge is waived. It can never be the basis for an eviction in the first year of the lease (765 ILCS 705/35(c)(1)).
From 2027, you also may not charge an extra fee at application that duplicates screening costs or covers costs unrelated to screening (765 ILCS 705/35(c)(2)).
The 2027 limits do not apply to owner-occupied buildings of 6 or fewer units (765 ILCS 705/35(e)).
Local rules: Cities and counties can add their own limits. Check local rules before you set a fee.
In Rentari: You choose an optional application fee when you send the invite. It is paid to you on top of any screening fee.
Illinois Law
Fair housing in Illinois
Protected classes: The Illinois Human Rights Act bars discrimination in renting because of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, sex, marital status, order of protection status, disability, military status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, reproductive health decisions, unfavorable military discharge, familial status, immigration status, source of income or arrest record (775 ILCS 5/3-102; 775 ILCS 5/1-103).
Source of income: Source of income means the lawful manner by which a person supports themselves and their dependents (775 ILCS 5/1-103).
Exemptions: The rental rules do not apply to an owner-occupied building of 4 or fewer units or to renting rooms in the owner's home, but the ban on discriminatory ads and statements still does (775 ILCS 5/3-106).
Screening: Screening criteria that have a discriminatory effect are unlawful unless they are necessary to achieve a substantial, legitimate, non-discriminatory interest (775 ILCS 5/3-102).
Domestic violence: You may not tell a prospective landlord that a tenant used Safe Homes Act rights, or share information the tenant gave you to use them; doing so can cost up to $2,000 in damages (765 ILCS 750/27; 765 ILCS 750/29).
Criminal history: Cook County's Just Housing guidance requires applicants to be evaluated against noncriminal criteria before a criminal check. Arrests without convictions cannot support denial. Covered convictions within three years require an individual assessment of demonstrable safety or property risk; current sex-offender registration and child-sex-offender residency restrictions have separate exceptions. The county does not require a criminal check, and the RTLO's small-owner exclusions should not be treated as a Just Housing exemption (Cook County Just Housing: landlord guidance).
Criminal history: The county guidance calls for criteria and dispute-right disclosures before application fees, delivery of the background report within five business days, five business days for the applicant to dispute it, and three business days after dispute information to decide. A conviction-based denial needs a written risk explanation; review the county rules and their exceptions before using this procedure (Cook County Just Housing: dispute and notice guidance).
Criminal history: The state definition of an arrest record includes an arrest without a conviction, a juvenile record, and criminal history information ordered expunged, sealed or impounded under Section 5.2 of the Criminal Identification Act. The housing provisions protect against discrimination based on that defined record, including in application questions and rental terms. Section 3-106 preserves an inquiry or use otherwise authorized by state or federal law. Check coverage and what a screening entry actually represents before using it; a broad criminal-history label does not establish that the information may lawfully be considered (775 ILCS 5/1-103(B-5); 775 ILCS 5/3-102; 775 ILCS 5/3-106(K)).
Pets, ESAs and service animals
Ask about animals on every application, but treat an assistance animal differently from a pet. Here is what to keep in mind:
Pet information: The Rentari application asks whether an animal will live at the property and lets the renter mark an assistance animal.
Not a pet: A service animal or emotional support animal is not a pet. Under federal fair housing law you generally can’t:
- Charge a pet fee, pet deposit or pet rent for one, or
- Apply your pet breed, size or weight limits to it.
Damage: The renter stays responsible for any damage the animal causes.
In Rentari: An assistance animal is routed as a fair housing request and is never charged a pet fee.
Approvals and denials
Apply the same written criteria to every applicant, and handle each decision the same way.
Approval: Choose Accept complete household in the household decision. Your lease draft is ready to review. Before move-in, check Illinois’s deposit rules:
765 ILCS 710 · 765 ILCS 715 · 765 ILCS 705 · 765 ILCS 745/12
Lawful reasons to deny: Deny only for reasons in your written criteria that you apply to every applicant, such as income below your standard, credit history, rental history including unpaid rent or eviction judgments, or incomplete or false information. Use criminal history only where Illinois and local law allow it, and weigh the offense and how long ago it happened.
Adverse action notice: If a screening report contributes to a denial, or to terms such as a co-signer, a higher deposit or higher rent, federal law requires a notice that:
- Names the reporting company and how to reach it,
- Says that company did not make the decision,
- Explains the renter’s right to a free copy of the report within 60 days, and
- Explains the right to dispute the report.
In Rentari: Choose Deny selected applicants and send individual notices in the household decision to send each notice. You make the decision.
Record keeping: Federal law sets no retention period for a private landlord’s applications. A fair housing lawsuit can be filed up to two years after a decision, so keep each application, your written criteria and the decision at least that long (42 U.S.C. § 3613(a)(1)(A)).
Screening reports: When you no longer need a screening report, destroy it securely. The FTC Disposal Rule covers consumer reports (16 C.F.R. Part 682).
Illinois rental application questions
Can I charge an application fee in Illinois?
Illinois does not yet cap application fees, but you may not charge an application screening fee to an applicant who gives you a qualifying reusable tenant screening report. For leases signed after January 1, 2027, an application fee, including background checks, is capped at $50 (765 ILCS 705/30; 765 ILCS 705/35(c)(1)).
Who pays for screening on Rentari?
In most states the renter pays the screening fee at the end of the application and nothing is charged to you. Where a state requires the landlord to pay, the invite tells you. The fee is shown before payment.
Can I ask about criminal history?
You choose whether the application asks about criminal convictions; it is off by default. Check Illinois and local rules first, and avoid blanket bans.