Chicago's Two Rental Ordinances: What PRO and FAIR Mean for Renters and Property Owners
Chicago is about to see the biggest change to its rental laws since the 1980s, and it's coming from two directions at once. Mayor Brandon Johnson's Protecting Renters Ordinance (PRO) and the City Council's rival Fair and Accountable Illinois Rental Ordinance (FAIR) both advanced out of committee on September 16-17 and are headed to a full City Council vote. Whichever passes will reshape how leases, evictions, deposits, and fees work for more than 600,000 renter households and every landlord in the city, from six-flat owners to large management companies.
Here's what each proposal actually does, and who it helps and hurts.
Proposal 1: The Protecting Renters Ordinance (PRO)
This is Mayor Johnson's plan, and it's the more sweeping of the two. Its core pieces are just-cause eviction, mandatory relocation payments, a citywide rental registry, and caps on fees.
What it requires:
Just cause for eviction or non-renewal. Landlords could no longer decline to renew a lease for any lawful reason, the way they can today. They'd need to cite a specific, city-approved reason.
Relocation payments. If a tenant is not at fault and the lease isn't renewed, landlords would owe $3,000 to $10,000 in relocation assistance, depending on the reason and the size of the ownership entity.
A mandatory rental registry. All landlords (with some owner-occupied and nonprofit exemptions) would register units annually and pay a per-unit fee of $20 to $60, funding a new city Bureau of Rental Housing Services.
Fee and deposit caps. Security deposits capped at one month's rent, application fees capped at $20, and a ban on undisclosed "junk fees."
Disclosure of algorithmic pricing tools, if a landlord uses one to help set rent.
For Renters
Advantages:
Real protection against being pushed out without a stated reason, particularly valuable for long-term tenants who've been renewing year after year with no issue.
A guaranteed cushion of cash if you are displaced for reasons outside your control, such as the owner moving in or converting the unit.
Predictable, capped costs going in — no surprise fees, no deposit larger than a month's rent.
Disadvantages:
Supporters and critics alike acknowledge this doesn't address the underlying shortage of units, and landlord groups argue that added compliance costs will be passed through as higher asking rents on new leases, even if existing tenants are shielded from unjust non-renewal.
Some landlords may become far more selective at the application stage, tightening income and credit requirements to avoid taking on tenants they can't easily decline to renew later.
For Property Owners
Advantages:
A citywide registry and dedicated bureau could, in theory, make it easier to prove compliance and resolve habitability disputes without going straight to court.
Predictability: once you know the "just cause" categories, you can plan around them, rather than facing ordinance changes case by case.
Disadvantages:
Loses the standard non-renewal option, which is currently the simplest way to remove a problem tenant without a documented lease violation.
Real cash exposure: relocation payments of $3,000 to $10,000 per unit turned over is a significant cost, especially for small owners with only a handful of units.
Annual registry fees and new compliance overhead, on top of an already-tight environment (recall from our earlier posts: rising insurance costs, higher property tax bills, and now this).
Landlord groups argue this will further discourage new apartment construction and investment in existing buildings, worsening the very supply shortage driving up rents.
Proposal 2: The FAIR Ordinance
FAIR comes from a City Council coalition, backed by landlord and business groups, and is explicitly positioned as the lighter-touch alternative. It keeps a registry and some tenant protections but drops just-cause eviction and mandatory relocation fees entirely.
What it requires:
No just-cause requirement. Today's notice-based non-renewal system stays in place (30, 60, or 120 days' notice depending on tenancy length).
No mandatory relocation payments for ordinary non-renewals or sales.
A registry, but softer. Still citywide, but drops the mandatory annual fee and adds exemptions for small, owner-occupied, nonprofit, and subsidized properties. Landlords who own up to 12 units and don't live on-site may also be exempt from parts of the ordinance.
Application fees capped at $50 (versus PRO's $20), and other fees allowed as long as they're disclosed, itemized, and tied to actual cost.
Higher lockout fines, $2,500 to $5,000 per violation, actually stricter than PRO on this one specific point.
A tiered regulatory system rather than one-size-fits-all rules, meant to treat small mom-and-pop owners differently from large corporate landlords.
For Renters
Advantages:
Higher penalties for illegal lockouts than PRO offers, a meaningful protection against one of the more aggressive tactics some bad-actor landlords use.
Registry data still exists, giving the city and tenants some visibility into who owns a building, useful in disputes or when trying to track down a hard-to-reach landlord.
Application fees are capped, even if higher than PRO's cap.
Disadvantages:
No just-cause protection means the fundamental dynamic doesn't change: a landlord can still decline to renew a lease for any lawful reason with proper notice, which is the single biggest complaint driving these ordinances in the first place.
No relocation assistance if you're displaced through no fault of your own.
Critics argue the small-owner exemptions could be used broadly enough to leave a large share of the rental market effectively unregulated.
For Property Owners
Advantages:
Keeps the non-renewal flexibility landlords currently rely on to manage problem tenants without a formal cause requirement.
No mandatory relocation payments, a significant cost avoided compared to PRO.
Smaller registry fee burden, with real exemptions for small and owner-occupied properties, meaning most mom-and-pop landlords in two-flats and small buildings may see little practical change.
The tiered approach is explicitly designed to avoid treating a two-flat owner the same as a 500-unit portfolio manager.
Disadvantages:
Higher lockout fines and a registry requirement are still new compliance obligations, even if lighter than PRO's.
If FAIR passes, the political fight likely isn't over — Johnson has said he'll continue pushing for just-cause and relocation provisions, meaning owners could face round two of this debate in a future budget cycle.
What This Means If You're Buying, Selling, or Investing Right Now
If you're a landlord or considering buying a multi-unit building in Chicago, this is worth watching closely before you close, not after. Depending on which ordinance passes (or if some hybrid emerges from the full Council vote), your obligations around tenant turnover, fees, and registry compliance could look very different a few months from now than they do today.
If you're a renter or first-time buyer weighing whether to keep renting a bit longer, know that either outcome changes your leverage and your costs somewhat, but neither ordinance solves the deeper issue both sides agree on: Chicago doesn't have enough housing supply, and that's ultimately what's driving rents up regardless of which set of rules wins today.
I'll follow up once the Council vote is finalized with what actually passed and what it means for your specific situation. If you own rental property in Chicago or are thinking about buying one, feel free to reach out — this is exactly the kind of shift worth talking through before you make your next move.