Found out Illinois has a specific law about radon testing in rentals and it blew my mind

I was looking at a place in Logan Square last month and the landlord mentioned they had to provide a radon disclosure by law. I had NO idea that was even a thing here. Turns out Illinois requires radon testing in all schools and daycares too, which I found at the state health department website. Has anyone else run into surprise regulations like this while apartment hunting?

2 comments

2 Comments

fox.derek13d ago

Yeah, the radon thing caught me off guard too when I was renting in Chicago last year.

holly_walker7613d ago

What gets me is how many people don't realize radon is worse in basements and ground floor units since the gas comes up from the soil. I looked into it after I moved into a garden apartment in Wicker Park and found out my unit was literally in the highest risk zone. Illinois has these maps by county and most of northern IL is Zone 1 which means average levels are like 4 pCi/L or higher. Landlords have to disclose past tests but they don't have to actually fix it unless it's over the action level, which feels like a loophole to me.