# Illinois — Security deposit return deadlines by US state — the statutory clock a landlord has to return a tenant's deposit, quoted from the state statute

For Illinois, return deadline is 30 days; deadline in days is 30; what starts the clock is 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; statute is 765 ILCS 710/1(a), recorded from its source on 2026-08-26.

- **State:** Illinois _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Return deadline:** 30 days _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Deadline in days:** 30 _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **What starts the clock:** 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 _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Statute:** 765 ILCS 710/1(a) _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_

## What the source says

> a lessor of residential real property who has received a security deposit from a lessee to secure the payment of rent or to compensate for damage to the leased premises 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, by personal delivery, by postmarked mail directed to his or her last known address, or by electronic mail to a verified electronic mail address provided by the lessee, an itemized statement of the damage allegedly caused to the leased premises

## Source

- https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2202&ChapterID=62

Last verified: 2026-08-26. Review by: 2027-08-26.
Part of [Security deposit return deadlines by US state — the statutory clock a landlord has to return a tenant's deposit, quoted from the state statute](https://referencesource.org/security-deposit-return-deadlines-by-state/).