SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — A bill on Gov. JB Pritzker's desk could ban rental junk fees and require transparency for leases.

Sponsors said renters shouldn't be surprised by charges included in the rent, such as fees for after-hours service requests, lease renewals, or routine maintenance. 

The plan states all non-optional fees should be explicitly disclosed on the first page of a lease agreement. Tenants would not be liable for fees if they are not listed on the first page of the lease.

"This is actually going to add predictability to the rental market, which is going to be good for my constituents who are renters and also going to be really useful to those that are actually offering rental housing to have a little bit more predictability in terms of what they can and cannot charge," said Sen. Mike Simmons (D-Chicago). "That's going to help us have more affordable housing all across the state."

Republicans said the idea comes from a good place, but they argue the plan can have unintended consequences. Some note there are only 34 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 extremely low-income rentals.

"I think this bill has some structural blind spots that will hurt the tenants we're seeking to protect," said Rep. Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore). "Any landlord doing business and running this, especially those that are smaller landlords with one to four properties, their natural inclination is going to be to build these costs into the base rent. Therefore, the tenants are going to be paying additional higher rents month in and month out.

House Bill 3564 passed out of the Senate on a 39-16 vote. It received a 64-40 vote in the House.

Lawmakers also approved House Bill 5234 before the end of session to change the effective date of the landlord tenant fee transparency law from July 1 to Jan. 1.

Copyright 2026. WAND TV. All rights reserved.