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Illinois landlord · tenant screening
Download the Illinois residential rental application — screens prospective tenants with application-money elections, a standalone screening-report authorization, and the disclosures federal and Illinois law require — in fillable Word and fillable PDF, with the Illinois Tenant Selection Criteria sheet, the Illinois Completion & Use Guide.
Renting out property in more than one state? This page is the Illinois application — each state's edition is built to its own screening and application-money law.
Bundle & save $19.97
Handle tenant screening, the lease, move-in condition records, and an Illinois nonpayment notice workflow if you need it.
Use each document only when appropriate. The notice packet is not a move-in document and should be used only when the facts and current law support it.
Every file below is included: the six-page fillable Word and PDF application, the Cook County Screening Companion (Form PL-IL-RA02) in Word and fillable PDF, the Illinois Completion and Use Guide, and the federal FCRA Summary of Your Rights.
The real document — not a mockup. Page 1 of the form included in your download.
Every part of the form, in order — the application summary, 17 sections, and the office-use panel.
About this form
A residential rental application is the landlord's first line of protection: it collects the applicant's identity, household composition, rental history, employment and income, and references, and it carries the disclosures and signed authorizations that make lawful tenant screening possible before a lease is signed.
Illinois applicants may tender a qualifying reusable tenant screening report under 765 ILCS 705/25; the landlord may not charge an application-screening or report-access fee for a qualifying tender. Illinois has no current statewide application-fee cap. Effective January 1, 2027, 765 ILCS 705/35 generally imposes a $50 cap for covered leases, subject to its limited actual-third-party-cost exception and exemptions. The Illinois Human Rights Act protects the federal classes and additional classes including ancestry, age forty and over, marital and military status, pregnancy, order-of-protection status, source of income, immigration status, and arrest record. Voucher qualification must use the tenant-paid rent portion where the statewide source-of-income rule applies.
Cook County properties use Form PL-IL-RA02 before any application fee: it supplies the criteria-and-rights package and records the Just Housing Ordinance two-stage process, with covered criminal-history review deferred until written prequalification. The statewide application asks no criminal-history question, excludes arrest and sealed-record inquiries, and cautions against asking whether an eviction was ever filed because sealed and dismissed matters must not be captured or considered.
ILRG provides self-help legal forms and download support. PublicLegal landlord forms are provided for you to complete with your own property and screening information. Screening rules vary by state and change frequently — the Completion & Use Guide explains the rules in your state and the steps that keep this application within them. If you are not 100 percent satisfied after purchasing from us, contact us for a refund.
Under 765 ILCS 705/25, a qualifying report must be recent, directly accessible at no cost, and include the landlord’s consistently used criteria. A landlord may request a no-material-change statement and conduct additional screening, but may not charge the applicant for screening or report access.
Illinois has no current statewide dollar cap. Effective January 1, 2027, 765 ILCS 705/35 generally caps the total application fee at $50 for covered leases, with a narrow documented actual-third-party-cost exception and an owner-occupied six-or-fewer-unit exemption. Do not apply the $50 cap before its effective date.
The Illinois Human Rights Act bars asking about or using arrest records, including juvenile and sealed, expunged, or impounded records. Cook County requires written prequalification before covered conviction screening and then an individualized two-stage process. Do not ask whether an eviction was ever filed because sealed and dismissed matters may not be considered.
A properly disclosed screening fee is not automatically refundable merely because the application is denied, but no fee may be charged after a qualifying reusable-report tender. Return any amount collected contrary to the election or applicable law and give an FCRA adverse-action notice when a consumer report contributed to the decision.
The six-page Illinois application, Cook County Screening Companion (Form PL-IL-RA02), one-page Completion & Use Guide, and federal FCRA Summary of Rights. A completed Springfield sample is available as an optional add-on.