Radon and Renters – Know Your Rights!

Rental housing seems to be popping up all over, whether it’s single-family homes for rent or multi-unit properties. Radon is everywhere, and when it comes to renting, you should know what the radon levels are and what your rights as a tenant are.

New laws were enacted on January 1, 2024 (Public Act 103-0298, A Change to 420 IL/CS 46).

The new law states the following….

1.) Landlords must give a radon awareness piece to potential tenants and renewing tenants. 

2.) The landlord must give a disclosure form about known radon levels in the unit and any test records. 

3.) Tenant can test dwelling during the first 90 days of the lease, or renewal, using a professional or DIY test, and send results to Landlord within 10 days. If the said property is at or above 4.0 pCi/l, they may request the landlord mitigate the radon.

4.) The landlord can choose whether to mitigate the radon or not, if they choose within 30 days, using a professional tester. **No further action is required if this professional test does NOT show high radon. This test supersedes the results from the tenant’s test.

5.)Landlord can mitigate high levels of radon, to below 4.0 pCi/l.

6.) Tenant can mitigate if the landlord does not within 60 days:

A. Leave the lease, without penalty OR

B. Have a mitigation system installed, with the Landlord’s permission, by a professional, the costs of said work would be subtracted from the rent in equal portions across the rest of the lease period. 

*Radon code information courtesy of Illinois Radon Task Force