Mobile home lot rent rules in Illinois

Illinois has a dedicated statute for mobile home communities — the Mobile Home Landlord and Tenant Rights Act, 765 ILCS 745. It does not cap lot rent or create rent control, but it heavily regulates the process of setting and raising rent: a written lease must be offered, increases require 90 days' notice, and the lease must spell out future increases. Because the amount itself is not limited, a specific increase is best reviewed with a licensed attorney in Illinois.

What the statute says

On notice before a rent increase, Section 6 provides:

The park owner shall give 90 days' notice of any rent increase and no rent increase shall go into effect until 90 days after the notice. Upon receipt of the notice of the rent increase, a tenant shall have 30 days in which to accept or reject the rent increase.

Section 6 also requires the park owner to "offer to each present and future tenant a written lease for a term of not less than 24 months." Section 9, "The Terms of Fees and Rents," adds that all charges must be itemized and that rents "may be increased upon the renewal of a lease," with "[n]otification of an increase ... delivered 90 days prior to expiration of the lease."

How it works in general

Because there is no cap, the written lease controls the rent and any increase mechanism. The Act requires the park to offer a lease of at least 24 months and, under Section 6.5, to disclose a three-year rent projection. A rent increase takes 90 days' notice, and the tenant then has 30 days to accept or to give notice of moving out before the increase takes effect. A month-to-month tenancy is permitted only when the tenant signs a statement that a longer lease was offered, and even then 90 days' notice precedes any increase. If a park closes, Section 8.5 entitles tenants to at least 12 months' notice.

Common scenarios

General examples Illinois park residents commonly encounter:

• A notice raises the lot rent. The key questions are whether 90 days' written notice was given and what the written lease and its three-year projection say.
• A resident expects a cap on the increase. Illinois has none; the protection is the notice period and the written-lease requirement, not a dollar limit.
• A park announces it is closing. Section 8.5 requires at least 12 months' notice and addresses how the remaining lease term is handled.

Other authorities that may apply

The written lease supplies the actual rent and the projected increases. The Mobile Home Park Act (210 ILCS 115), administered by the Illinois Department of Public Health, governs park licensing. Local ordinances may add protections in some municipalities, and federal law such as the Fair Housing Act can apply to how increases are administered. Reading the lease and its rent projection closely is the most important step in Illinois.