Illinois Rental Application Form

What the Illinois rental application is

This Illinois rental application is a compact two-page form that landlords and property managers use to screen applicants for apartments and homes in Illinois. It fits a lot into tables: every occupant, three jobs, three addresses, accounts and loans, vehicles, references, and a set of general questions, followed by an agreement and authorization for credit, criminal background, and eviction record checks. It is a general template, not a form issued by the State of Illinois. Illinois does not require a specific rental application.

Who uses it

Small landlords and management companies use it as their standard application, and renters use it to prepare a clean, typed application to send with a fee and supporting documents. One form covers an applicant and a co-applicant, both of whom sign at the end.

What to have ready

• Full names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, and phone numbers for everyone who will live in the unit
• Your current, previous, and prior employers with occupation, supervisor phone, dates, and monthly income
• Your last three addresses with dates of occupancy, monthly rent, owner or manager name and phone, and reason for leaving
• Bank names and balances for savings and checking, and lenders and balances owed for credit cards and auto loans
• Vehicle make, model, color, year, and plate number, and two references

For a list of supporting papers, see our guide to the documents needed for a rental application.

How to fill it out online

Click "Fill Template Now", type into each table cell, add signatures for the applicant and co-applicant on page 2, and download the PDF to send to the landlord. The sections follow the form's own headings.

Page 1: occupants, employment, rental history, credit history

At the top, the landlord states the Application Fee per adult, which the form says is non-refundable. The occupant table asks you to list all occupants regardless of age, with first, middle, and last name, birth date, Social Security number, driver's license, and cell and home phone, in up to six rows. Under Employment History, fill in the applicant's current, previous, and prior employer, occupation, supervisor, phone, dates of employment, and monthly income; a separate row takes the co-applicant's employers. Rental / Residential History has columns for current, previous, and prior homes: street address, city, state and ZIP, dates of occupancy, monthly rent, owner or manager and phone, and reason for leaving. Credit History asks for the institution and balance or amount owed for savings, checking, credit card, and auto loan accounts.

Page 2: vehicles, references, general information

List up to three vehicles with make, model, color, year, and plate number, then two references with name, address, and relationship. The "Phoned" column is for the landlord. General Information asks whether you have received a late rent or eviction notice, whether anyone who would live there smokes, bankruptcy history, why you are moving, recurring problems where you live, other income you want considered, someone who could help if you had trouble paying rent, anything you want to explain before the credit and criminal background check, and your pets with type, age, weight, and whether they are neutered or declawed. Add your email address.

Agreement and authorization

Read the paragraph before signing: it authorizes income verification, forcible entry and detainer (eviction) reports, credit reports, and a criminal background check, and it states that questions about rejected applications or requests for a copy of the credit report must be in writing with a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Enter the date and sign as applicant and co-applicant. You can add signatures with our sign PDF tool.

Illinois rules worth knowing

General information, checked October 2026. Read the cited source or consult a qualified professional for your situation. Chicago and Cook County have their own landlord-tenant ordinances with additional rules.

• Reusable screening reports. Under Public Act 103-0840 (765 ILCS 705/25, effective January 1, 2025), if an applicant provides a qualifying reusable tenant screening report, prepared by a consumer reporting agency within the previous 30 days and available to the landlord at no cost, the landlord may not charge an application screening fee or a fee to access the report.
• Upcoming application fee cap. Public Act 104-0479 limits rental application fees, including background checks, to $50, with a narrow exception for higher actual third-party background check costs. As of October 2026 it is scheduled to take effect January 1, 2027, and it does not apply to owner-occupied buildings with six or fewer units.
• Security deposits. The Illinois Attorney General's tenant rights guide notes there is no legal limit on the deposit amount. In buildings with five or more units, the landlord must give an itemized statement of damages with receipts within 30 days of move-out and return the deposit within 45 days. Landlords with 25 or more units must pay interest on deposits held at least six months.
• Source of income. Since January 2023, the Illinois Human Rights Act prohibits housing discrimination based on source of income, including Housing Choice Vouchers, Social Security, SSI, SSDI, child support, and veterans benefits.
• Criminal history screening. Statewide, Public Act 102-0896 added arrest record, juvenile record, and sealed or expunged record to the Illinois Human Rights Act's protected categories, effective January 1, 2022, so a landlord cannot deny an application based only on those records. In Cook County (including most of the Chicago area), the Just Housing Amendment goes further: landlords must first evaluate an applicant on credit, income, and rental history before asking about criminal convictions, may only consider convictions from the past three years, and must complete a documented individualized assessment before denying anyone based on a conviction. See the Illinois Legal Aid guide to Cook County housing rights for details.

Common mistakes

• Listing only adults in the occupant table when the form asks for all occupants regardless of age
• Leaving the previous and prior columns empty without explaining a short history
• Skipping the co-applicant signature line
• Answering the adverse information question vaguely; a short factual note is clearer
• Paying an application fee without checking whether you can offer a qualifying reusable screening report instead