Springfield, IL landlord rules come almost entirely from Illinois statutes, because the city cannot pass rent control and has no citywide landlord registry. What Springfield adds on top is a property maintenance code and, since August 2025, a public registry for buildings cited repeatedly for housing code violations.
For an apartment owner in the state capital, that means the work of staying compliant sits in a handful of places: the Illinois security deposit statutes, the eviction notice rules in the Code of Civil Procedure, a newer anti-retaliation law, fair housing rules that now cover a tenant’s source of income, a lease disclosure that started on January 1, 2026, and the city’s code enforcement process. This guide walks through each one with the details that matter to owners of 5+ unit buildings and the passive investors who rely on them.
Why state law sets most Springfield, IL landlord rules
Springfield is the seat of Sangamon County and the capital of Illinois. The Census Bureau counted 114,394 residents in April 2020 and estimates 112,989 as of July 1, 2025. Its Census QuickFacts profile for Springfield city puts the owner-occupied housing rate at 64.3% for 2020-2024, which leaves roughly a third of occupied homes rented, and shows a median gross rent of $975 over the same period.
Illinois does not have one consolidated landlord-tenant code. Outside Chicago and a few suburbs with their own ordinances, owners work from several separate acts: the Security Deposit Return Act, the Security Deposit Interest Act, the Landlord and Tenant Act, the eviction article of the Code of Civil Procedure, the Landlord Retaliation Act, the Safe Homes Act and the Illinois Human Rights Act. Springfield has not adopted a residential landlord and tenant ordinance of the Chicago type, so these statutes are the rulebook. For a broader look at how the capital fits into the statewide picture, see our Illinois multifamily market overview.
Rent control is preempted statewide, for now
Under the Rent Control Preemption Act, 50 ILCS 825/5, a unit of local government may not enact, maintain or enforce an ordinance or resolution that would control the rent charged for private residential or commercial property. The law took effect August 1, 1997 (P.A. 90-313). The only carve-out is for property in which the local government itself holds an interest.
In practice, Springfield cannot cap rent increases or tie them to an index, and neither can Sangamon County. Owners still have to give proper notice before a new rent takes effect, which in a month-to-month tenancy generally means ending the existing tenancy on 30 days’ written notice and offering new terms.
Repeal or partial repeal comes up regularly in Springfield’s own Capitol. The most recent example is Senate Bill 2884 in the 104th General Assembly, introduced January 16, 2026, which would let local voters lift the ban by referendum. According to the General Assembly’s bill status page, it was referred to the Senate Assignments Committee and had not passed either chamber.
Security deposits: the 30-day and 45-day clocks
The Security Deposit Return Act, 765 ILCS 710, is the law Springfield landlords are most likely to trip over, mostly because of its deadlines and its double-damages penalty.
The 5-unit threshold is gone
For years, the itemized-statement rule applied only to lessors of residential property “containing 5 or more units.” Public Act 103-224 (Senate Bill 1741), signed June 30, 2023 and effective January 1, 2024, removed that limit. The current statute now covers any lessor of residential real property that holds a security deposit, so a Springfield owner with a duplex and a 24-unit building follows the same rules at both.
What the statute requires
- Itemized statement within 30 days. To keep any part of a deposit for damage, the landlord must deliver an itemized statement of the alleged damage and the estimated or actual cost of each repair within 30 days after the later of the date the tenant moved out or the date the tenant’s right of possession ended.
- Receipts. Paid receipts or copies must be attached. If only estimates were given, the receipts must follow within 30 days of the statement. If receipts are unavailable through no fault of the landlord, the statute allows an itemized cost list, other evidence of cost and a verified statement explaining why.
- Delivery. The statement can be delivered in person, mailed to the tenant’s last known address or another address the tenant provided, or emailed to a verified email address the tenant supplied.
- Owner labor. A landlord who does the repair work personally may charge the reasonable cost of that labor.
- Lease-specified charges. For components that will not actually be replaced, a written lease may set a dollar amount for cleaning or replacement, as long as the charge covers damage beyond normal wear and tear and the statement cites the lease language.
- Full refund within 45 days. If no compliant statement goes out, the full deposit must be returned within 45 days after the tenant vacates.
- Penalty. If a court finds the landlord refused to supply the statement, supplied one in bad faith, or failed to return the deposit on time, the landlord owes twice the deposit plus court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.
No further amendments to Section 1 appeared on the General Assembly’s website for 2025, so P.A. 103-224 remains the most recent change to the core deposit rules as of this writing.
Deposits move with the building
Section 1.1 of the same act matters to anyone buying or selling. When residential property is transferred (other than to a lienholder), the new owner becomes liable to tenants for the deposits, statutory interest and prepaid rent the old owner collected, and the seller remains jointly and severally liable. In a Springfield apartment sale, that is why deposit ledgers and tenant estoppels get so much attention at closing.
Deposit interest at 25 units applies in Springfield too
A common question is whether Illinois’ interest rule is a Chicago-only requirement. It is not. The Security Deposit Interest Act, 765 ILCS 715/1, has no geographic limit. It applies to any lessor of residential property with 25 or more units in a single building or in a complex of buildings on contiguous parcels, and it requires interest on deposits held more than six months, computed from the date of deposit.
The rate is tied to the minimum-deposit passbook savings rate at the largest commercial bank headquartered in Illinois as of December 31 of the prior year. On January 5, 2026, the Illinois Division of Banking announced the 2026 rate as 0.005% (0.01% APY). The dollars are small at that rate, but the obligation exists for a Springfield complex at 25 units or more, and a missed payment can turn into a dispute that costs more than the interest. Chicago’s separate ordinance has its own, different interest rules that do not apply in Springfield.
Eviction notice periods under 735 ILCS 5/9
Article IX of the Code of Civil Procedure sets the notices a landlord must serve before filing an eviction in Sangamon County. Each serves a different purpose:
- 5-day notice for unpaid rent (Section 9-209). After rent is due, the landlord can demand payment in writing and state that the lease will end unless payment is made within at least five days after service. Under 735 ILCS 5/9-209, accepting a partial payment does not void the notice if the notice prominently states that only full payment of the rent demanded will waive the right to terminate. Collecting past-due rent after the case is filed does not invalidate the suit.
- 10-day notice for other lease violations (Section 9-210). When a tenant breaches a term other than rent, the statute says it is not necessary to give more than 10 days’ notice to quit, signed by the landlord or an agent.
- 30-day notice to end a periodic tenancy (Section 9-207). A tenancy of less than a year, such as month-to-month, can be ended with 30 days’ written notice. Week-to-week tenancies take 7 days. Both are subject to exceptions in Section 9-207.5.
Self-help is off the table. A landlord cannot change locks or remove belongings to force a tenant out; possession comes back only through a court order.
Filing in Sangamon County
Springfield evictions are heard in the Circuit Court of Sangamon County, part of the Seventh Judicial Circuit along with Greene, Jersey, Macoupin, Morgan and Scott counties. The court complex is at 200 S. 9th Street. Civil filings, including eviction complaints, must be e-filed unless the filer qualifies for an exemption, and the Circuit Clerk’s office and the courthouse self-help center offer e-filing help. Eviction Help Illinois provides free legal help to tenants and to landlords who do not have a lawyer.
Once a judge enters an Order to Vacate, the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office is the agency that enforces it. The landlord brings the order to the Sheriff’s Office to schedule the eviction, and civil process officers meet the landlord or a representative at the unit. The Sheriff’s guidance notes that officers do not remove personal property left behind, which owners need to plan for separately.
Retaliation, safety and lease disclosures
Landlord Retaliation Act
The Landlord Retaliation Act (P.A. 103-0831) took effect January 1, 2025 and repealed the older Retaliatory Eviction Act. It protects tenants who, in good faith, complain to a government agency about code violations, ask a community organization for help, request repairs, join or organize a tenants’ union, testify about conditions, or exercise any other legal right. Evidence that a landlord acted against a tenant within one year after protected activity creates a rebuttable presumption of retaliation.
The landlord can rebut that presumption with a legitimate, non-retaliatory reason, or by showing the action began before the tenant’s activity. Remedies are significant: a tenant can raise retaliation as a defense in an eviction, or sue for damages that include the greater of two months’ rent or twice actual damages, plus attorney’s fees. This intersects directly with Springfield code enforcement, since a call to the city about a violation is protected activity.
Safe Homes Act and the new lease summary
The Safe Homes Act, 765 ILCS 750, lets a tenant facing a credible threat of domestic or sexual violence end a lease early with written notice given before or within three days of moving out, without owing future rent or an early-termination fee. A tenant under imminent threat can ask the landlord to change the locks, and the landlord must do so, or permit the tenant to do so, within 48 hours, at the tenant’s reasonable expense.
Since January 1, 2026, the Summary of Rights for Safer Homes Act (P.A. 103-1031) requires landlords to attach the Illinois Department of Human Rights summary as the first page of every written residential lease and renewal, with each tenant signing the acknowledgment at the bottom of each page. According to IDHR’s Safer Homes page, a landlord proven not to have complied is liable for the greater of actual damages up to $2,000 or $100. For Springfield owners who renew dozens of leases a year, this is mainly a lease-packet update, but the signed pages are the proof of compliance, so they need to be kept.
Rent payment method
Public Act 103-0132, effective January 1, 2024, added Section 4 to the Landlord and Tenant Act (765 ILCS 705/4). A landlord may not require a tenant or applicant to pay rent or other lease charges by electronic funds transfer, including recurring automatic payments. Online payment can be offered, but a paper option has to remain available.
Source of income is a protected class in Illinois
Public Act 102-0896 added “source of income” to the Illinois Human Rights Act effective January 1, 2023. The act defines it as the lawful manner by which a person supports themselves and their dependents. Fair housing guidance from the Illinois REALTORS and housing advocates treats housing choice vouchers, Social Security, child support and other lawful income as covered.
For a Springfield apartment owner, the practical effect is that ads, applications and screening criteria cannot exclude or set different terms for applicants because of how they pay, including “no Section 8” language. Owners can still apply consistent, lawful screening standards. The act’s exemptions are narrow, such as an owner-occupied building of four or fewer units or a room in an owner’s home, and the advertising ban applies even to those. A typical 5+ unit building does not qualify for an exemption.
Springfield’s property maintenance code and cited property registry
The city’s main local lever is code enforcement. Springfield’s list of codes in use, revised June 1, 2023, includes the 2018 International Property Maintenance Code alongside the 2018 International Building, Residential and Existing Building codes and the 2015 NFPA 101 Life Safety Code. The property maintenance code is what inspectors use for conditions like broken windows, sanitation, exterior upkeep, and heat, plumbing and structural problems.
In August 2025, the City Council approved Ordinance 2025-321, which created a cited property registry, as reported by Illinois Times. The key mechanics, which local coverage and the Illinois REALTORS describe the same way:
- Trigger. A property goes on the public registry after three or more independent housing code violations within 12 months.
- Scope. It covers rental, owner-occupied and commercial property, and the designation applies to all buildings on a parcel together.
- Owner disclosure. Owners of cited properties, including LLC members or managers, must register their names and contact information.
- Portfolio rule. An owner with three or more cited properties must register every property they own in the city and faces a fine of at least $5,000.
What Springfield does not have is a blanket landlord registration or routine rental inspection program. A full landlord registry ordinance failed in 2023, and on November 18, 2025 an advisory referendum on a landlord registry fell short of the six votes it needed. For well-run buildings, the city’s process stays complaint-driven. For a building with a pattern of violations, the registry and the Landlord Retaliation Act together raise the stakes of slow repairs.
What this means for Springfield apartment owners
Putting the state and city rules together, a compliance checklist for a Springfield multifamily building looks like this:
- Calendar the 30-day itemized statement and 45-day refund deadline for every move-out, and keep repair receipts with each file.
- If the property has 25 or more units in one building or on contiguous parcels, track deposits held longer than six months and pay interest at the current state rate.
- Update lease packets so the IDHR Safer Homes summary is page one, and file the signed copies.
- Use 5-day, 10-day and 30-day notice forms that match Sections 9-209, 9-210 and 9-207, including the required full-payment language on rent demands.
- Review ads and screening criteria for source-of-income compliance.
- Document the reason and timing of any non-renewal, rent increase or eviction that follows a tenant complaint, given the one-year retaliation presumption.
- Resolve code citations quickly to stay off the cited property registry, especially if you own several properties in the city.
- When buying or selling, reconcile security deposits and prepaid rent before closing, since the buyer inherits the liability.
These rules also shape how a building changes hands. Tenants stay in place through a sale, and their deposits, lease terms and any pending disputes travel with the property. Our guide to selling a rental property with tenants in place covers how leases, estoppels and deposits are handled in that process.
Key dates for Illinois landlords
- August 1, 1997. Rent Control Preemption Act takes effect.
- January 1, 2023. Source of income added to the Illinois Human Rights Act.
- January 1, 2024. Security Deposit Return Act extended to all residential lessors; ban on mandatory electronic rent payment takes effect.
- January 1, 2025. Landlord Retaliation Act replaces the Retaliatory Eviction Act.
- August 2025. Springfield adopts its cited property registry.
- January 1, 2026. Safer Homes summary required as the first page of written leases.
- January 5, 2026. Illinois Division of Banking announces the 2026 deposit interest rate of 0.005%.
Owners who hold or are weighing property in the capital can find local market context on our page on selling an apartment building in Springfield.
