The City of Chicago's Housing and Real Estate Committee voted 12-9 to advance Mayor Brandon Johnson's revised Protecting Renters Ordinance. The updated proposal removes a just-cause eviction clause and relocation payments but keeps a rental registry, a Bureau of Rental Housing Services, an eviction counsel program, and bans on junk fees. The registry is projected to raise roughly $22.4 million annually and fund 28 staff positions over three years, with per-unit fees scaled by building size and limited fee exemptions.
Chicago Committee Advances Mayor Johnson’s Revised 'Protecting Renters' Ordinance — Registry Could Raise $22.4M
Mayor Brandon Johnson and Alderman Gilbert Villegas (Getty, 36th Ward)
The City of Chicago's Committee on Housing and Real Estate voted 12-9 on Wednesday to advance Mayor Brandon Johnson's revised Protecting Renters Ordinance (PRO) to the full City Council. The updated measure removes a contentious just-cause eviction provision and related relocation payments but retains several major tenant-protection and oversight measures.
What Changed
The version that cleared committee differs from an earlier June proposal by dropping the just-cause eviction requirement and landlord-funded relocation assistance. Those deletions address some concerns raised by a competing plan from Alderman Gilbert Villegas — the Fair and Accountable Illinois Rental Ordinance (FAIR) — which will be considered separately by the City’s zoning committee and could complicate PRO’s path forward.
Key Provisions
The ordinance as advanced includes:
- Creation of a citywide rental registry requiring annual registration of rental units and landlord details.
- Establishment of a Bureau of Rental Housing Services to coordinate code enforcement and landlord oversight.
- Implementation of an eviction counsel program to provide legal support to tenants facing eviction.
- Reforms to the Residential Landlord-Tenant Ordinance to ban junk fees and create a tenant bill of rights.
Fees, Funding, And Exemptions
The rental registry would charge annual per-unit fees based on building size to fund the proposed bureau and enforcement. Preliminary estimates project about $22.4 million in annual revenue, which the city says would support code enforcement and staffing for 28 positions over a three-year rollout.
The proposed fee schedule is: $20 per unit for 1–4 unit buildings, $40 per unit for 5–49 unit buildings, and $60 per unit for buildings with 50+ units. Owner-occupied landlords of two- to six-unit buildings and affordable housing providers would be exempt from paying fees but would still be required to register their properties.
City staff indicated penalties for failing to register would likely range from $100 to $500, though enforcement mechanisms were not detailed at the committee hearing.
Reactions And Next Steps
The committee vote prompted loud cheers from tenant advocates and community organizers in a crowded City Hall gallery, who called the measures an important step for renter protections. Landlord groups disagreed:
"This vote represented a mistaken impulse to layer costs and burdens on the buildings that house the working families of Chicago's neighborhoods," said Michael Glasser, leader of the Neighborhood Building Owners Alliance, who was among roughly 20 speakers during the public comment period.
The ordinance will now be debated by the full City Council. Meanwhile, the rival FAIR proposal remains active and could lead to competing or amended rules depending on council actions and committee votes.
Note: This article was originally reported by The Real Deal.
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