Security deposit return deadline in Illinois

In Illinois, your landlord has 30 days to send you an itemised statement of anything they are keeping, and if they do not, your full deposit is due back within 45 days of the day you moved out.

Work out your Illinois deadline

Your move-out day — when the keys went back.

When the lease or agreement ended. Often the same day you moved out. Only one Illinois deadline uses this date: the 30-day deadline to send an itemised statement, which runs from whichever of the two is later. The rest start from other dates, named with each rule below.

Illinois sets a further deadline that runs from the date printed on a statement or claim notice your landlord sends you. Leave blank if you have not had one.

Not legal advice. This is general information, not legal advice, and it is calculated only from the dates you entered. Whether a penalty applies is for a court to decide, not this site — and your landlord may dispute the dates or the reason for any deduction. Deadlines and penalties change and vary by jurisdiction. Verify with the cited statute or consult a licensed attorney in your state before you rely on any of this.

What Illinois law requires

  • 30 days to send an itemised statement, counted from whichever is later: the day you handed back the property, or the day the tenancy ended.

    Applies when: Landlord intends to withhold part of the deposit for damage.

    The clock runs “within 30 days of the date that the lessee vacated the leased premises or within 30 days of the date the lessee's right of possession ends, whichever is later.” On what the landlord can keep, the statute says the landlord “may withhold the dollar amount specified in the lease”, and the itemised statement must reference that amount and include a copy of the portion of the lease that sets it. Under subsection (b), a landlord who cannot produce paid receipts through no fault of their own may instead supply an itemised list of costs, other evidence, and a verified statement explaining why. On how the statement has to reach you, the statute permits three routes: “by personal delivery, by postmarked mail directed to his or her last known address, or by electronic mail to a verified electronic mail address.” Only one of the three turns on a postmark, so whether your landlord met the deadline can depend on which route they used.

    710/1(a)

  • 45 days to return the deposit, counted from the day you handed back the property.

    Applies when: The landlord did not furnish the itemised statement within the 30 days allowed for it.

    This 45-day full-refund clock runs only from “the date that the lessee vacated the premises.” Unlike the 30-day itemisation deadline, it does not also look at the date your right of possession ended, so the two clocks can start on different days. In full, the statute says “the lessor shall return the security deposit in full within 45 days of the date that the lessee vacated the premises, delivered in person or by postmarked mail directed to the last known address of the lessee or another address provided by the lessee.” Two routes, and only one of them turns on a postmark, so whether your landlord met the deadline can depend on which one they used. Separately, if you do not give the landlord a mailing or email address, the statute provides that the landlord “shall not be held liable for any damages or penalties as a result of the lessee's failure to provide an address.” That is broad wording, and it is not confined to a failure to deliver notice, so give your landlord an address in writing and keep a copy of when you sent it.

    710/1(a)

  • 30 days to send the paid receipts, counted from the date written on your landlord's notice.

    Only applies if: The landlord's itemised statement gave an estimated cost rather than paid receipts.

    This clock runs from the date of the landlord's own estimated-cost statement, and applies only where an estimate was given instead of paid receipts. The statute requires that if “estimated cost is given, the lessor shall furnish to the lessee, delivered in person or by postmarked mail directed to the last known address of the lessee or another address provided by the lessee, paid receipts, or copies thereof, within 30 days from the date the statement showing estimated cost was furnished to the lessee.” Two routes again, and only one of them turns on a postmark.

    710/1(a)

Do you have to give a forwarding address?

The statute does not make the deadline, or your right to a refund, depend on giving a forwarding address. What it does say is that a landlord “shall not be held liable for any damages or penalties as a result of the lessee's failure to provide an address.” That covers damages and penalties generally, not only a notice that failed to arrive, so not giving an address can cost you the remedies rather than the refund itself. Give your landlord a mailing or email address in writing, and keep a copy of when you sent it.

What to do next

  1. Write it down. Put the date you handed back the property, the date your tenancy ended and the date written on your landlord's notice in one place. Every deadline on this page is counted from one of those.
  2. Ask in writing. Email is fine and it timestamps itself. Say what you are asking for, cite the subsection above, and give a date by which you expect a reply.
  3. Keep the receipt. If you post a letter, pay for tracking. It costs a few dollars and it is the difference between "I sent it" and proof that you did. You do not need to buy a service to do this — the post office will.

There is a longer walkthrough, including what an itemised statement should contain and when small claims is worth it, in what to do if your landlord won't return your deposit.