The Chicago Move-Out Checklist: Get Your Full Deposit (and Interest) Back

Getting your full security deposit back in Chicago — plus the interest the RLTO requires on top of it — comes down to hitting a few specific deadlines and keeping the right documentation. Here's the move-out process laid out against the exact timeline that controls it.

This is educational information, not legal advice.

Before you give notice

• Check your tenancy length against the Fair Notice Ordinance if you're ending a periodic (month-to-month) tenancy — but note the tiered notice periods run primarily against your landlord ending things without cause, not against you giving notice to leave; confirm what your specific lease requires from you as the tenant, since that's often set by lease terms rather than the ordinance. See our Fair Notice Ordinance guide for the landlord-side rules.
• Re-read your lease's notice requirements — how much notice you owe, and how it must be delivered (in writing, to a specific address or method).
• Confirm whether your unit is RLTO-covered — this determines whether the deposit-interest requirement and 30-day itemization deadline discussed below actually apply to you. See our RLTO coverage guide.

During your notice period

• Give written notice, and keep a copy — email or a letter you can prove was sent and received.
• Provide a forwarding address in writing — your landlord needs this to send your itemized deposit statement and any refund; not providing one can create delays that are hard to blame entirely on the landlord.
• Schedule a move-out walkthrough if your landlord offers one, and take your own dated photos of every room regardless — this is your evidence if a deduction is later disputed.

The day you move out

• Photograph everything — walls, floors, appliances, fixtures, and anything that could plausibly be flagged as damage — with a timestamp, ideally matching your original move-in photos if you have them.
• Return all keys and fobs and get a dated confirmation that you did — a dispute over whether keys were returned is a common, avoidable friction point.
• Do a final read of your lease for any specific move-out requirements (professional cleaning, carpet cleaning, specific procedures) so you're not blindsided by a deduction for something the lease actually required.

After you move out: the clock that matters

For an RLTO-covered unit, your landlord has a real deadline. The City of Chicago's own published RLTO security-deposit guidance describes a 30-day deadline from your move-out date for the landlord to send you an itemized statement of any damage-related deductions before withholding anything — confirm the current exact deadline against the city's current guidance or MCC § 5-12-080, since sources vary somewhat in describing exactly how this interacts with the overall return timeline.

If your deposit was held 6 months or more, you're also generally owed interest for each 12-month period it was held, at a rate the City Comptroller publishes annually — see our security deposit and interest guide for how to check and calculate it. This interest is owed on top of your deposit, separate from whether any deductions are also being made.

If the itemized statement doesn't show up, or the numbers look wrong

1. Send a written follow-up referencing the 30-day itemization requirement and, if applicable, the missing interest payment.
2. Keep your own records — your lease, move-in and move-out photos, your forwarding-address notice, and any prior repair requests you made during your tenancy (a landlord withholding for something you already reported in writing is a weaker position for them).
3. Know the stakes for your landlord. The RLTO's security-deposit provisions carry real statutory-damages exposure — commonly described as up to two times the deposit amount plus your attorney's fees if your landlord acted in bad faith. Confirm current penalty language under MCC §§ 5-12-080 and 5-12-081, but this exposure is exactly what gives you leverage in a written follow-up.
4. Consider Illinois small claims court if a written follow-up doesn't resolve it — see our small claims court guide for the process and dollar limits.

A quick proof-of-payment tool for the whole process

Whether you're documenting your on-time payment history to head off a nonpayment dispute, or you simply want a clean record of your tenancy for your own files, a CertRent rent certificate gives you a bank-verified summary of exactly what you paid and when — useful both during a move-out dispute and for your next landlord.

Frequently asked questions

How long does my Chicago landlord have to return my deposit?

The City's published RLTO guidance describes a 30-day deadline from move-out for the itemized statement of deductions; confirm the current exact return timeline for the actual funds against current guidance or MCC § 5-12-080, since this is worth double-checking directly.

Do I get interest on my deposit even if my landlord makes deductions?

Generally yes, for RLTO-covered units held 6+ months — interest and deductions are calculated separately (deposit plus interest, minus lawful deductions), not one instead of the other.

What if my unit isn't RLTO-covered?

Then the RLTO's specific interest requirement and 30-day itemization deadline generally don't apply — Illinois' general landlord-tenant law governs instead, which is less specific about these particular deadlines. Confirm coverage using our RLTO coverage guide before assuming either way.

What's the single most useful thing I can do before moving out?

Take dated, comprehensive photos of the entire unit on move-out day, and put your forwarding address in writing. Together, those two things resolve the great majority of deposit disputes before they start.