New addition to the Landlord and Tenant Act will help prospective tenants save on application fees

Effective January 1, 2025, the Illinois Landlord and Tenant Act will allow for prospective tenants to reuse their tenant screening report.

The Act defines a reusable tenant screening report as a report prepared by a consumer credit reporting agency that states the date through which the information is current and includes, but is not limited to, the name, contact information and last known address of the tenant, a verification of the source of income, and the results of an eviction history check in a manner consistent with applicable law. A landlord may not charge a prospective tenant a fee to access a screening report or an application screening fee if the reusable tenant screening report meets the following criteria:

• The report was prepared within the past thirty days by a consumer credit reporting agency at the request and expense of the tenant;
• The report is made directly available to a landlord for use in the rental application process or is provided via a third-party website;
• The report is available to the landlord at no cost to access or use; and
• The report includes all the criteria consistently being used by the landlord in the screening of prospective tenants.

The Act also allows for a landlord to request that an applicant complete a statement that there has not been a material change to the information provided in the report.

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