Protecting Renters Ordinance Flaws Hurt Affordability
By Don DeBat
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s “Protecting Renters Ordinance” (PRO) aims to rewrite landlord-tenant rules in Chicago in an effort to supposedly strengthen tenant protections and housing stability.
However, the proposed PRO ordinance is “flawed and actually hurts affordability” by adding costs and restrictions for landlords, according to an expert analysis by Illinois Policy Institute, a non-profit taxpayer-research organization.
An earlier version of PRO would have required landlords to pay tenants thousands of dollars for declining to renew a lease. However, the apartment industry has lobbied hard to have that broad mandate removed from the proposed ordinance.
A competing ordinance, the “Fair and Accountable Illinois Rental Ordinance” (FAIR), backed by Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th Ward), and a group of other Aldermen, also is before the City Council. Votes on both proposals have been delayed to give the two sides more time to find common ground.
Apartment industry critics say there is a sweeping regulatory movement underway by Mayor Johnson and other Democratic Socialists to take away private property rights from landlords, and give excessive protection to renters.
(Alderan Gilbert Villegas, left)
Mayor Johnson’s PRO Ordinance seeks to update the city’s 40-year-old “Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance” (RLTO), which oversees the legal rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords.
The truth is, the Chicago Assn. of Realtors’ standard apartment lease already is so loaded with renter protections it weighs in at a hefty 37 pages with the 2026 addition of four pages to protect tenants from domestic violence and abuse. Currently, Chicago has one of the most anti-landlord ordinances in the nation.
Three flaws in PRO Ordinance
According to the Illinois Policy Institute, the revised PRO Ordinance still raises the following three major concerns for Chicagoans who want more rental housing and fewer barriers to providing it:
• Restrictions on how owners charge costs. The PRO proposal’s fee rules permit only limited and specified charges beyond rent.
PRO caps an application fee at the lesser of processing costs, or $20, and prohibits a move-in fee. The ordinance also would limit security deposits to one month’s rent. Lower upfront charges sound appealing to renters. Yet credit reporting and background checks, along with prior occupancy screening, preparing a unit for a new tenant and covering potential damage still costs.
Landlord horror stories abound
This writer believes landlords and major apartment management groups need to clearly explain the real costs of renting. For example, a $500 non-refundable move-in fee barely covers half of the cost of a professional cleaning and repainting after a tenant moves out.
A $50-a-month “pet rent” fee may not cover the damage caused by pets. One landlord recently paid $520 to repair window screens destroyed by cats. Another noted that unclean cat boxes left for months on hardwood floors left odor and stains, requiring floor refinishing at $800 per room.
Plumbing issues abound, especially in older walk-up buildings. The most common problem is human hair plugging up shower drains.
Animal hair from washing pets in the bathtub also plugs drains. Plumbers typically charge $150 to $250 per trip to rod a drain.
One renter pushed whole, rotten celery stalks down a kitchen sink disposal, jamming it and sending chopped celery through the pipes into the adjoining bathroom sink. A veteran plumber’s advice: Remove all garbage disposers. Use removable drain screens instead.
Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies reports that capping upfront costs can lead to higher monthly rent, according to the Illinois Policy Institute.
The Federal Trade Commission also describes larger security deposits as one response landlords use to deal with an applicant’s weak credit score. Restricting the ways an owner can recover those costs could make renting to an applicant with a limited credit history less attractive.
• Rental registries an annual obligation? Under one provision, owners would have to register each rental unit every year and report information including its occupancy status, monthly rent and ownership details.
The registry would identify owners and combine rental information with inspection and violation records on a searchable website to support oversight and enforcement. Landlords would be charged an annual fee of $20, $40 or $60 for most units, depending on the building size.
Owner-occupied buildings of six or fewer units would be exempt from the fee but not from registration. Violations could bring fines per unit and per day.
A registry might seem to simply help the city identify owners and inspect problem properties. However, tenants already can report building violations by calling 311 or using CHI311, which offers online and app-based reporting, and seek help through the Renter’s Rights Hotline. Inspection and violation records are searchable, while Census estimates provide market-level rent and vacancy information.
PRO goes further by collecting extensive information and charging recurring fees across the rental market. For a small “Ma and Pa” owner, that adds an annual tax and another opportunity for a costly error.
The Illinois Policy Institute says the City Council should show why the information already available to city departments is insufficient before imposing a new reporting system on every rental unit and landlord.
• Owner’s duties after major repairs. Landlords already must honor the agreed rent during a fixed-term lease. PRO’s “right to return” provision would also give eligible tenants displaced by certain code-compliance activities—including substantial repairs that cannot be done while a unit is occupied—the option to return when the unit is ready.
A returning tenant’s rent would have to be the same as when they left, under a lease containing materially the same terms and conditions. PRO does not specifically mandate a duration for a new lease or say the original term restarts on the return date.
What happens if the original lease expires during repairs? This needs clarification. Tenants should not lose their homes because an owner makes necessary repairs. However, landlords must continue to meet their legal-repair obligations. And, they also must meet financial obligations to their lender.
However, the Illinois Policy Institute says preventing an owner from adjusting rent after the original lease expires to help cover substantial repair costs could weaken incentives to invest in improvements or cause postponement of work.
Aldermen should clarify whether that rule could discourage investment in older buildings that most need improvements.
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Don DeBat is co-author of “Escaping Condo Jail,” the definitive guide to condominium living. A veteran real estate voice, he provides essential insights for navigating communal ownership at escapingcondojail.com. Stay updated on housing news at dondebat.biz. Don is currently writing “Chicago’s Game,” a look at the history and lifestyle of 16-inch softball.
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