Illinois: Security Deposit Return Deadlines & Deductions

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Illinois's core statewide deposit rules split across two short acts: the Security Deposit Return Act (765 ILCS 710/1), which covers the itemization-and-return procedure and the penalty for skipping it, and the Security Deposit Interest Act (765 ILCS 715), which covers interest for larger buildings only.

Deadline to return the deposit

There isn't one single number — it depends on whether the landlord is withholding anything. A landlord "may not withhold any part of that deposit as reimbursement for property damage unless the lessor has, 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, furnished to the lessee... an itemized statement of the damage allegedly caused to the leased premises and the estimated or actual cost for repairing or replacing each item on that statement, attaching the paid receipts." (§ 710/1(a)). If the landlord skips that statement entirely, the fallback deadline is longer, not shorter: "If no such statement and receipts... are furnished to the lessee as required by this Section, the lessor shall return the security deposit in full within 45 days of the date that the lessee vacated the premises." (§ 710/1(a)).

Itemized statement required?

Yes, if the landlord wants to withhold anything for property damage. The statement must list each item of damage and its estimated or actual repair/replacement cost, with paid receipts (or copies) attached. If the landlord only has an estimate at the 30-day mark, actual paid receipts are still required, just on a second 30-day clock: "the lessor shall furnish to the lessee... paid receipts, or copies thereof, within 30 days from the date the statement showing estimated cost was furnished to the lessee." If the landlord genuinely can't produce receipts through no fault of their own, the statute has a fallback: an itemized cost list, whatever other cost evidence exists, and a verified statement explaining why receipts aren't available (§ 710/1(b)).

What can be deducted

The Act's itemization procedure is specifically about property-damage deductions — its own text repeatedly frames the requirement as "reimbursement for property damage." A written lease can also pre-set a specific dollar deduction for a named component (say, a fixed carpet-replacement charge), but only for damage that goes beyond normal wear and tear: "Costs specified in a written lease shall be for damage beyond normal wear and tear and reasonable to restore the leased premises to the same condition as at the time the lease began." (§ 710/1(a)). Worth noting precisely: the statute doesn't lay out a parallel itemized-statement procedure for withholding to cover unpaid rent — its itemization and receipt requirements are written around property damage specifically.

Maximum deposit amount

None under state law. Illinois has no statewide dollar cap or months'-rent cap on how much a landlord can charge as a security deposit; the amount is set entirely by the lease. (Chicago's own local ordinance does cap deposits at 1.5 months' rent for covered units, but that's a city rule, not state law, and outside this survey's scope.)

Interest on the deposit?

Yes, but only in larger buildings. The interest duty applies only to "a lessor of residential real property, containing 25 or more units in either a single building or a complex of buildings located on contiguous parcels of real property" (§ 715/1), and only to a deposit "held by the lessor for more than 6 months." Where it applies, the rate tracks "the interest paid by the largest commercial bank... on minimum deposit passbook savings accounts as of December 31 of the calendar year immediately preceding the inception of the rental agreement," paid to the tenant "within 30 days after the end of each 12 month rental period" once it reaches $5, and in full at the end of the tenancy regardless of amount (§ 715/2). If your building has fewer than 25 units, no interest is owed under state law at all.

Penalty for a late/bad-faith withholding

The Return Act's penalty requires a court finding on two things together: "Upon a finding by a circuit court that a lessor has refused to supply the itemized statement required by this Section, or has supplied such statement in bad faith, and has failed or refused to return the amount of the security deposit due within the time limits provided, the lessor shall be liable for an amount equal to twice the amount of the security deposit due, together with court costs and reasonable attorney's fees." (§ 710/1(c)). This isn't automatic on a missed deadline alone — it requires the court to find the landlord refused or acted in bad faith on the statement, and also missed the return deadline. Separately, the Interest Act has its own penalty for a landlord who "willfully fails or refuses to pay the interest required by this Act": liability for "an amount equal to the amount of the security deposit," plus court costs and attorney's fees — again requiring a willfulness finding, and without any doubling (§ 715/2).

Separate account or bond required?

No. Neither the Return Act nor the Interest Act requires a landlord to hold a deposit in a segregated account or post a bond under state law. (Chicago's RLTO requires a separate, federally insured account for covered units — again, a city rule outside this survey's scope.)

What trips people up

The 30-day and 45-day deadlines aren't alternatives you can pick between — they're a fork based on what the landlord actually does. If the landlord sends a proper itemized statement, the 30-day clock governs; if the landlord sends nothing, the deposit is due in full within 45 days. A landlord can't simply wait the full 45 days while planning to withhold money without the required paperwork.

Interest is a building-size test, not a deposit-size or landlord-size test. A small individual landlord who happens to own a 25-plus-unit building owes interest; a large landlord who owns many separate small buildings, none with 25 units, owes none under this statute.

"Willful" matters for both remedies. Both the double-damages penalty and the interest-shortfall penalty require a court finding of refusal or willfulness — an honest, promptly-corrected mistake is a different legal question than a landlord who simply ignores the deadline.

Common questions

My landlord is 40 days late returning my deposit and never sent me anything in writing — what am I owed? Under § 710/1(a), the full deposit was due within 45 days since no itemized statement was ever furnished — so at day 40 nothing is overdue yet under that specific deadline, though the 30-day itemization deadline for withholding anything has already passed, which matters if the landlord later tries to claim damages.

Can my landlord use my deposit to cover unpaid rent without sending me an itemized statement? The Return Act's itemization procedure is written around property-damage withholding specifically; it doesn't set out the same receipts-and-statement mechanism for a rent deduction.

My apartment building has 30 units — am I owed interest even though I've only lived there 4 months? No. § 715/1 limits the interest duty to deposits "held by the lessor for more than 6 months," so a 4-month tenancy's deposit hasn't reached that threshold yet.

Statutes and sources

• 765 ILCS 710/1(a) — 30-day itemized-statement rule and the 45-day fallback if none is given.
  https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/076507100K1.htm (accessed 2026-07-06)
• 765 ILCS 710/1(a) (lease-specified deduction clause) — pre-set lease deductions must be for damage beyond normal wear and tear.
  https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/076507100K1.htm (accessed 2026-07-06)
• 765 ILCS 710/1(c) — double-damages penalty for refusal or bad faith plus a missed deadline.
  https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/076507100K1.htm (accessed 2026-07-06)
• 765 ILCS 715/1 — interest requirement for 25+ unit buildings, deposits held over 6 months.
  https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/076507150K1.htm (accessed 2026-07-06)
• 765 ILCS 715/2 — annual interest payment timing and the willful-failure penalty.
  https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/076507150K2.htm (accessed 2026-07-06)
• IL SB 3530 (2025-2026) — pending proposal to cap deposits and bar an
  additional deposit or increase at renewal.
  https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/BillStatus?GAID=18&DocNum=3530&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=0&SessionID=114 (checked 2026-07-25)