We are committed to ensuring our clients navigate regulatory requirements smoothly, while allowing them the flexibility to make their own decisions.

This is not legal advice. Please consult your own legal counsel.

Below is our current understanding of the ordinance, which is subject to change.

Policy Overview: Tenant Screening Ordinance Compliance

Part I: Legal Requirements of the Ordinance

A. Qualifying report definition

The ordinance requires specific criteria for a screening report to qualify. In our experience, reports provided with applications often do not qualify for several reasons, including:

  1. include verification of the applicant's income source
  2. be prepared at the request and expense of the tenant in the last 30 days
  3. made directly available to the landlord

(see link at the end of this for full text and description)

B. No obligation to notify applicant

The ordinance does not specifically require agents, property managers, or landlords to inform applicants of their right to provide a reusable tenant screening report.

The ordinance does not prohibit applications with screening fees if the applicant does not provide a reusable tenant screening report.

Part II: Recommendation for Clients

Our clients can make informed decisions that align with both the ordinance and best practices in tenant relations.

Avoid Disputes It’s often easier to facilitate compliance rather than challenge an applicant. If someone presents a qualifying screening report, it may be worth simply accepting it.

If the ordinance is brought up by an applicant and is believed to have a qualifying report (or not), consider waiving fees and passing reports directly to the landlord for review. Unfortunately, in this case, Rent Application will not be able to process this request the reports as they should be provided to the landlord.

If there are any questions about whether something qualifies, direct them to the official legislation link below.

Legislation: https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/fulltext.asp?Name=103-0840