Publications: New Illinois Radon Disclosure Obligations for Landlords of Residential Buildings

Owners and managers of apartment buildings in Illinois need to be aware of a change in the Illinois Radon Awareness Act which becomes effective January 1, 2012.

Under the amended law, if a landlord performs a radon test in a dwelling unit that indicates at a radon hazard exists in the unit, the landlord is obligated to provide written notification of the radon hazard to the current tenant of the unit and any prospective tenant. Likewise, if the tenant undertakes a radon test and provides written results to the landlord that indicate a radon hazard exists in the unit, the landlord must provide written notification of the hazard’s existence to any prospective tenant of that unit. After receiving such tenant notification, if the landlord conducts its own radon test and the results of such test indicate a radon hazard does not exist, the landlord is not required to disclose that a radon hazard exists in the dwelling unit.

The new law applies only to dwelling units below the third story and above ground level. More importantly, the amended Act does not require a landlord to conduct any radon testing. The disclosure obligations kick in only if radon testing has occurred.

Radon testing is often required as part of an environment assessment performed in connection with the purchase, financing or refinancing of a real estate property. Owners and landlords of multi-family residential buildings need to keep those new laws in minds for tenants after January 1, 2012.