Mayor Johnson Pushes Sweeping Renter Protections, Including a Tenant Bill of Rights for Chicago

For the first time in roughly four decades, Chicago renters may be on the verge of dramatically stronger legal protections — if Mayor Brandon Johnson can steer a sweeping new ordinance through a City Council that is already drawing fierce opposition from landlord groups.

Johnson introduced the Protecting Renters Ordinance on Monday, framing it as the most comprehensive modernization of the city's Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance since Mayor Harold Washington's administration in the mid-1980s. The legislation was sent directly to the Committee on Housing and Real Estate, where it must win approval before advancing to a full City Council vote expected sometime this fall.

What the Ordinance Would Do

The proposal is built around five major components:

A Tenant Bill of Rights — The ordinance would codify a formal set of renter protections into city law, standardizing fees and deposits and spelling out tenant rights more clearly than current ordinances allow.

Just-cause eviction requirements — Landlords would be required to cite a legally recognized reason before evicting a tenant or declining to renew a lease. Accepted justifications include nonpayment of rent, serious lease violations, owner occupancy, major repairs, demolition, or sale of the unit. If a landlord cannot demonstrate just cause, they would be required to provide the displaced tenant with relocation assistance.

Relocation fees — When a tenant must leave due to owner occupancy, major repairs, demolition, or a sale, landlords would owe a relocation fee of five months' rent or $5,000 — whichever is greater. That figure can climb as high as $10,000, or 10 months of rent, if a landlord is found to have raised one unit's rent significantly more than others in the same building. Nonprofits and owner-occupied buildings with six units or fewer face a reduced obligation of $3,000 or three months' rent. Landlords can sidestep the fee entirely by offering a displaced tenant a comparable unit at a comparable rent within the same building.

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