SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Illinois House Democrats passed legislation Wednesday to ban rental junk fees and require transparency for leases.

Sponsors said renters shouldn’t be surprised by charges included in their rent, such as fees for after-hours service requests, renewing a lease, or routine maintenance.

The bill states that all non-optional fees should be explicitly disclosed on the first page of a lease agreement. Tenants would not be liable to pay fees if they are not shown on the first page of a lease.

"There are instances where individuals are signing up for a lease without a clear understanding of everything they have to pay for," said Rep. Nabeela Syed (D-Palatine). "Just having that transparency, I think, is important for all of our constituents."

House Republicans said they appreciated the intent of the proposal, but they stressed there could be unintended consequences.

"I think this bill has some structural blind spots that will hurt the tenants we’re seeking to protect," said Rep. Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore). "Any landlord doing business and running this, especially those that are smaller landlords with one to four properties, their natural inclination is going to be to build these costs into the base rent. Therefore, the tenants are going to be paying additional higher rents month in and month out.

House Bill 3564 passed out of the House on a partisan 64-40 vote. The measure previously received a 39-16 vote in the Senate. It now heads to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk for further consideration.

"This is actually going to add predictability to the rental market, which is going to be good for my constituents who are renters," said Sen. Mike Simmons (D-Chicago). "It is also going to be really useful to those who are actually offering rental housing to have a little bit more predictability in terms of what they can and cannot charge. That’s going to help us to have much more affordable housing all across the state." 

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