New Illinois Laws 2026

New laws that took effect January 1, 2026.

There are several new laws that took effect with the new year. It is important to keep up with new laws so you know your rights along with potential benefits that pertain to you.

These are just paraphrases from a couple laws, please see the link at the bottom to get exact verbiage of the laws.

SB 1563 | PA 104-0029 – Squatters Bill ( effective 01.01.26) – allows law enforcement to enforce criminal trespass rather than having to go through the long eviction process when someone is occupying a vacant property with no valid lease.

SB 1523 | PA 104-0382 – County Records Fraud Alert (effective 01.01.26) – requires county recorders to notify owners when anything is placed on file related to a property. Allows for a private right of action so people harmed by this type of fraud may sue for damages.

PA 103-1031 Summary of Rights for Safer Homes Act – IL Dept. of Human Rights (IDHR) must prepare a summary sheet to be attached to every residential lease noting IL protections for survivors of domestic and sexual violence – where they can go for assistance and what are their housing rights.

Link:

https://www.iml.org/file.cfm?key=32099

Some information taken from Illinois Realtors website