The FAIR Ordinance
1. The basics
This is the second article in a two-part look at the dueling rental ordinances currently before Chicago City Council. The first covered Mayor Brandon Johnson's Protecting Renters Ordinance (PRO). This one covers the counter-proposal introduced in direct response to it: the Fair and Accountable Illinois Rental Ordinance (FAIR).
FAIR was introduced in mid-July 2026 by members of the Budget Accountability Coalition, a group of roughly 23 of the council's 30 or so more moderate and conservative alderpersons, many of whom previously opposed Johnson's failed corporate tax proposal and helped pass an alternative city budget. The coalition also drew support from One Future Illinois, a political action committee backed by wealthy and influential businesspeople. Tenant rights groups say they were not consulted before FAIR was drafted, and have since organized against it.
2. What FAIR would do
- A scaled-back rental registry. FAIR would still create a rental registry, but drops the mandatory annual fee and exempts certain owner-occupied, nonprofit, and subsidized properties. It also requires less information from landlords than PRO, generally just contact information for the owner or the owner's representative and whoever handles tenant repairs, rather than requiring disclosure of who is behind an LLC or trust.
- No just cause requirement. FAIR would eliminate the just cause protections in PRO and keep the status quo, where a landlord isn't required to give a tenant any reason for not renewing a lease.
- No mandatory relocation payments. The relocation assistance tenants would be entitled to under PRO for no-fault non-renewals is removed entirely under FAIR.
- A capped, broader fee structure. Application fees would be capped at $50, and most other fees would be allowed as long as they're disclosed in writing, itemized, and reasonably tied to an actual cost the landlord incurred.
- A much larger small-landlord exemption. This is the single most contested piece of FAIR. Current law, and PRO, exempt owner-occupied buildings with six units or fewer. FAIR would create three landlord tiers and expand the small-landlord exemption to anyone who owns 12 units or fewer, anywhere in the city, with no requirement that the owner live in the building. According to a draft reviewed by Block Club Chicago, that exemption would also remove tenants in those buildings from several existing protections not addressed by just cause, including rules around security deposits, foreclosure disclosures, and a tenant's one-time right to pay overdue rent to stop an eviction.
3. Where the politicians stand
Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th Ward)
Leads the Budget Accountability Coalition; chairs the Zoning Committee FAIR is assigned to
Villegas has framed FAIR as a starting point for negotiation rather than a finished product, saying the goal is a "better ordinance that does not lead to a rent increase" without watering down existing protections. He has described the expanded small-landlord exemption as intended to help "mom and pop" landlords compete and grow, distinguishing them from large corporate owners. When asked directly whether FAIR intentionally strips protections like security deposit rules and foreclosure disclosures from newly exempted small landlords, Villegas said that was not the intent and that the language "may need more clarification."
Budget Accountability Coalition
At least 16 of 31 members signed on at introduction, per Ald. Samantha Nugent's (39th) office
Villegas has said more alderpersons were considering joining. He has declined to commit to a timeline for moving FAIR through committee, saying its supporters deserve the same months of drafting and discussion Johnson's team had with PRO, which the administration hopes to pass by September.
Mayor Brandon Johnson
Sponsor of the competing PRO ordinance
Johnson opposes FAIR and has said he will keep pushing for the provisions it strips out, specifically just cause protections, relocation payments, and the junk fee ban.
Ald. Anthony Quezada (35th Ward)
City Council
The most visible council critic of FAIR. Quezada has appeared alongside tenant advocates at City Hall to argue FAIR would move renter protections backward rather than forward, calling it "presented as a balanced approach" while actually weakening the protections renters need most.
Tenant advocacy groups
Metropolitan Tenants Organization, Belden Sawyer Tenants Association
Broadly and vocally opposed. The Metropolitan Tenants Organization's Jonah Karsh has said FAIR is "worse for tenants than the status quo and cannot be reasonably considered to be a tenant protection ordinance." Devon Carson of the Belden Sawyer Tenants Association has called it "the Chicago landlord's big, beautiful bill," arguing it deregulates and shifts accountability away from large property interests onto working-class tenants, and has said notice requirements ahead of an eviction could effectively disappear for tenants in newly exempted buildings.
Landlord trade groups
Neighborhood Building Owners Association, Illinois Realtors
Reaction has been mixed rather than uniformly supportive. The Neighborhood Building Owners Association, which represents small and mid-sized landlords, called FAIR a step forward but said there are still "important issues to resolve" to refine it. Illinois Realtors, a statewide trade association, said it needed more time to review the ordinance and has not formally taken a side.
4. Why it matters for renters
FAIR's supporters frame it as relief for small, local landlords who they argue would be squeezed by PRO's compliance costs. Its critics argue the 12-unit, non-owner-occupied exemption is broad enough that a meaningful share of Chicago's rental stock, not just true mom-and-pop operators, could fall outside the city's core tenant protections, including some protections tenants already have today under current law. That gap between FAIR's stated intent and its current drafted language is likely to be one of the central points of negotiation as both ordinances move through committee.
5. Related articles
6. FAQ
What is the FAIR Ordinance?
FAIR, the Fair and Accountable Illinois Rental Ordinance, is a counter-proposal introduced by a coalition of roughly 23 Chicago alderpersons in direct response to Mayor Brandon Johnson's Protecting Renters Ordinance. It removes just cause eviction protections and mandatory relocation payments, and expands the small-landlord exemption to owners of up to 12 units.
How does FAIR's small-landlord exemption work?
Current law exempts owner-occupied buildings with six units or fewer from most tenant protections. FAIR would expand that exemption to anyone who owns 12 units or fewer anywhere in the city, with no requirement that the owner live in the building. Critics say this could remove protections like security deposit rules and foreclosure disclosures from a significant share of Chicago's rental stock.
Who supports and opposes FAIR?
Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th) leads the coalition backing FAIR, with support from the political action committee One Future Illinois. Mayor Brandon Johnson, Ald. Anthony Quezada (35th), and tenant advocacy groups including the Metropolitan Tenants Organization oppose it. Landlord trade groups have been mixed rather than uniformly supportive.