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Rent-to-Own Rights

Rent-to-Own Laws in Illinois: Your Rights

Illinois caps late and reinstatement fees at $5, bars a store from breaching the peace to repossess, and gives you a longer window to get the item back once you've paid 60% or more. Missing payments isn't a crime; the Act's only criminal penalty applies to stores that break the rules.

What Illinois's rental-purchase law generally provides

Can you be charged with a crime?
Not for the debt, but keeping the item and refusing to return it can be charged as theft.
Can they enter your home?
No home entry without your permission
Getting it back (reinstatement)
Yes, 30-day window
Paid enough to own it?
After ~60%: Paying 60% or more toward ownership extends your reinstatement window after returning the item to at least 60 days, instead of 30 (815 ILCS 655/2). Illinois also bars a store from requiring any extra balloon payment at the end beyond the disclosed total.
Fee caps
Reinstatement fee capped at $5
Owe a balance after repossession?
Not allowed

These describe what the statute says. Your own contract and the facts of your situation can affect how they apply.

Verified against Illinois Rental-Purchase Agreement Act (815 ILCS 655) on .

Illinois’s Rental-Purchase Agreement Act keeps the cost of falling behind low and, like Minnesota, gives you extra time to recover the item once you’ve paid enough.

Can the store come into my home?

No. A rental-purchase agreement in Illinois may not authorize the merchant to commit a breach of the peace in repossessing the merchandise (815 ILCS 655/2). Forcing its way in or creating a confrontation isn’t allowed; a store that can’t repossess peacefully has to use the courts.

Can I be arrested for not paying?

No. Falling behind on payments is a civil matter, not a crime. The only criminal penalty in the Rental-Purchase Agreement Act is a petty offense, a fine of up to $500, for a merchant who violates the Act (815 ILCS 655/5). It’s aimed at stores that break the rules, not at customers who miss payments.

Can I be charged with theft for keeping the item?

This is a different question, and the answer needs more care. A rent-to-own contract is a lease, and Illinois’s theft law lets a court infer an intent to permanently deprive the owner if a lessee fails to return leased property within 10 days after a written demand sent by registered mail to the address on the lease (720 ILCS 5/16-1). The window is 24 hours if the customer gave a false name or address to get the item. How serious any charge would be depends on the value of the item.

The line that matters is between being behind and keeping the item. Falling behind while you try to catch up is the civil situation described above. Holding onto the item and ignoring a proper written demand to return it is what this part of the theft law is about. If you decide to walk away, returning the item, or responding to a demand, is what keeps you clear of it.

Reinstatement, and the 60% boost

If you fall behind, you can reinstate without losing rights or options you’d earned by catching up before the later of one week or half of a regular payment period after the due date. If the item was returned, you have at least 30 days to reinstate, stretching to at least 60 days if you’d already paid 60% or more (815 ILCS 655/2). The ownership calculator can help you see which side of that line you’re on.

Fees are capped at $5

A late charge or reinstatement fee can’t exceed $5, and it’s allowed only after a payment is delinquent for 3 days (815 ILCS 655/2). Illinois also bars a store from requiring any extra “balloon” payment at the end beyond the total it disclosed, so you won’t be surprised by a charge to finish owning the item.

Returning the item

Because the agreement renews one period at a time, you can return the item and stop owing future payments rather than being held to the full price.

Illinois rent-to-own questions

Can a rent-to-own store in Illinois have me arrested for missing payments?
Falling behind on payments is a civil matter, not a crime. The only criminal penalty in Illinois's Rental-Purchase Agreement Act is a petty offense, a fine of up to $500, for a merchant who violates the Act (815 ILCS 655/5); it applies to stores, not to a customer who misses payments.
Can I be charged with theft for keeping rent-to-own property in Illinois?
Keeping the item is a different question. Illinois's theft law lets a court infer an intent to permanently deprive the owner if a lessee fails to return leased property within 10 days after a written demand sent by registered mail to the address on the lease (720 ILCS 5/16-1), or within 24 hours if the customer gave a false name or address to get the item. How serious any charge would be depends on the value of the item. This targets holding onto the item and ignoring a proper demand, not being behind and trying to catch up; returning the item, or responding to a demand, takes you out of it.
Can a rent-to-own store enter my home in Illinois to take the item back?
A rental-purchase agreement may not authorize the merchant to commit a breach of the peace in repossessing the merchandise (815 ILCS 655/2).
Can I get rented rented merchandise back after it is repossessed in Illinois?
If you miss a payment, you can reinstate without losing rights or options you'd earned by catching up before the later of one week or half of a regular payment period after the due date. If the item was returned, you have at least 30 days to reinstate, or at least 60 days if you'd paid 60% or more (815 ILCS 655/2).
In Illinois, can I owe money after the item is repossessed?
Illinois bars a store from requiring any payment at the end of the term beyond the disclosed total (815 ILCS 655/2). Because the agreement renews one period at a time, you can return the item and stop owing future payments.

Sources

Every statement about the law on this page links to the official statute itself, so you can read the law, not just our summary of it. Notice something out of date? Let us know.

Consumer information, not legal advice. For your situation, consider speaking with a licensed Illinois attorney or a local legal-aid office.