2025 New Law Roundup Part 2: Prohibitions on Landlord Retaliation
This Article is the second in a series about new real estate related laws in Illinois, effective in 2025.
There are good landlords, and there are bad landlords. The worst of the bad landlords can make life miserable for tenants. Pushed against a wall, tenants might complain to the authorities or try to exercise their rights in some other way. The Illinois Legislature has passed Public Act 103-0831, effective January 1, 2025, to prohibit landlord retaliation.
If a landlord violates the new law and sues the tenant, the tenant will have a viable defense and can go after the landlord for damages. The tenant could terminate the lease and demand a return of the security deposit with interest, plus any prepaid rent. If the landlord has tossed the tenant out of the unit or threatened to throw him out, the tenant can recover possession of the unit. The tenant may also recover monetary damages from the landlord, up to two times one month’s rent or two times the actual costs incurred by the tenant, whichever is more. The tenant can also recover attorneys’ fees from the landlord.
The landlord would have to prove that the landlord’s conduct was not retaliatory This is going to be difficult for landlords, as the simplest way to prove this is if the landlord commenced any lawsuit against the tenant before the tenant complained in the first place.
What kind of tenant complaints and issues are now protected?
- Complaint of code violations to any governmental agency, public official, elected representative, or community organization
- Requesting help from a community organization because of code violations
- Complaint to a landlord requesting repairs related to building codes, health codes, or repairs that were required under the lease
- Organizing a tenant union
- Participating in a tenant union
- Appearing in court to testify about the condition of the property
Of course, the tenant is also protected if they exercise their rights under any other existing laws.