Security Deposits, Rent Collection, and Funds Handling
Security deposits
The Illinois Security Deposit Return Act (765 ILCS 710) applies to residential buildings with five or more units. Within 30 days after the tenant vacates, the landlord must return the deposit along with an itemized statement of damage and paid receipts or estimates for the repairs; if nothing is withheld, the full deposit is returned within 30 days. A landlord who willfully fails to comply can owe the deposit plus an equal amount, court costs, and attorney's fees. The Security Deposit Interest Act (765 ILCS 715) applies to buildings with 25 or more units and requires interest on deposits held six months or more, paid or credited annually. Chicago's ordinance is stricter still: it covers buildings of two or more units, requires a receipt, caps deposits at 1.5 months' rent, requires a separate interest-bearing account, and requires the RLTO summary attached to the lease.
Funds handling
A leasing agent never holds or deposits trust funds personally. Application fees, holding deposits, and rent go to the sponsoring broker, who places trust funds in a designated escrow or management account (promptly, commonly stated as within 24 hours) with no commingling with operating funds, and retains records. Rent payments should be receipted and applied as the lease directs; late fees must be written in the lease and reasonable.
Traps
Assuming the 30-day rule applies to every building, forgetting the receipts-or-estimates requirement, and treating an application fee as the agent's personal money are the recurring errors.