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Your rights

Illinois

Illinois · home improvement

Your rights in Illinois

Information, not legal adviceRules checked Oct 4, 2026

3 business days to cancel

If they were at your home when you agreed ($25+)

Cancel by midnight of the third business day; the clock starts when you get the cancel form. 15 business days if 65+ and uninvited.

Some sales are excepted, such as emergency work you ask for in a signed waiver.

The 5 exceptions, in the rule's words
  • You negotiated the deal earlier during a visit to the contractor's store or showroom at a fixed, permanent location, even if you sign the final contract at home.
  • Emergency: you contacted the contractor, you need the work for a real and immediate personal emergency, and you give the contractor a separate dated and signed statement in your own handwriting that describes the emergency and waives the 3-day right.
  • The deal was made entirely by mail or phone, with no other contact before the goods were delivered or the work was done.
  • You asked the seller to come to your home to repair or maintain your personal property (the statute's words). Anything extra sold during that visit, beyond replacement parts needed for the repair, is still covered.
  • The transaction already gives you the federal right to rescind under 15 U.S.C. 1635, which covers some credit secured by your principal dwelling (Regulation Z, 12 CFR 1026.23).
Longer in some cases

15 instead of 3, for buyers age 65 or older who bought from an uninvited solicitor and made the agreement at home.

Read the full rule

When it applies

The sale is $25 or more and the contractor or salesperson was physically present at your home when you signed or agreed to it.

If you sign at home with the contractor present and the sale is $25 or more, you can cancel until midnight of the third business day after signing. That 3-day clock does not start until you get the Notice of Cancellation form and the address to send it to. If you are 65 or older and bought from an uninvited solicitor at your home, you have 15 business days after signing. After you cancel, the contractor must refund your payments within 10 business days of receiving your notice.

Illinois AG: 3-day right to cancel · read on illinoisattorneygeneral.gov · checked Oct 4, 2026 (official source, opens in a new tab)

What the contract should include

Source: IL law

Some of these come from state guidance rather than a law. Each item's own words say which.

An estimate isn't the contract. Ask for all 8 in writing before you sign.

  • Written contract & total costWork over $1,000, before work starts: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    For work over $1,000, give you a written contract or work order to sign before work starts. It must state the total cost, including parts and materials listed in reasonable detail and any charge for an estimate.

  • Business name & addressCheck it on the signed contract: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    Show the contractor's business name and address. If the contractor gets business mail at a P.O. box or mail service, it must also show the contractor's residence address.

  • "Know Your Rights" pamphletYou both sign its acknowledgment: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    Give you the state's 'Home Repair: Know Your Consumer Rights' pamphlet. For contracts over $1,000 it must come before you sign, and you and the contractor both sign and date its Consumer Rights Acknowledgment Form; the contractor keeps the original and you keep the duplicate.

  • Arbitration & jury waiversYou accept or reject each one: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    Point out any binding-arbitration clause or jury-trial waiver before you sign, and let you accept or reject each one by signing and writing 'accept' or 'reject' next to it. A clause not handled this way is void.

  • 3-day cancel notice & formsIf you sign at home ($25 or more): show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    If you sign at home and the sale is $25 or more: print the boldface notice of your 3-business-day right to cancel near your signature, attach two copies of a completed Notice of Cancellation form, and tell you about the right out loud.

  • Insurance-denial cancel noticeIf insurance pays for the work: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    If insurance money will pay for the work: include a statement in at least 10-point boldface of your right to cancel if your insurer tells you in writing that all or part of the claim is not covered, plus a completed Notice of Cancellation form in duplicate, attached and easily detachable.

  • Roofing contract termsLicense #, insurers, 72-hour cancel: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    For roofing work: show the roofer's name and Illinois roofing license number as they appear on the license, a street address (not a P.O. box), phone and email, the scope of work and materials, approximate dates, the approximate cost of a roof repair, and the roofer's surety and liability insurer with contact details if any. It must be signed by both of you, let you rescind within 72 hours for a full refund of any deposit, state that the roofer cannot pay, waive or rebate your insurance deductible, and say in bold that your payment is held in trust until materials are delivered or most of the work is done.

  • Dates, cost & payment planState advice, not a legal requirement: show the rule's own words

    In the state's guidance

    The state pamphlet also lists basic terms a contract should include: the contractor's full name, address and phone number, a description of the work, start and estimated completion dates, the total cost, the schedule and method of payment (down payment, later payments and final payment), and the grounds on which either side may end the contract.

On signing day

  • Keep a signed copy
  • Find the cancel notice
Sources26 official pages · checked Oct 4, 2026

Notes from our check

  • Deposit: no Illinois statute caps deposits or down payments for home repair in general. The full text of 815 ILCS 513 (Home Repair and Remodeling Act), 815 ILCS 515/3 (Home Repair Fraud Act) and 815 ILCS 505/2B was read, and none sets a limit. The Attorney General's guide only advises keeping the down payment 'as little as you can negotiate' and warns against paying for the whole job up front. depositCap is null: the app must not state an Illinois cap or borrow one from another state.
  • Roofing only (not a cap): 225 ILCS 335/5.5 (P.A. 104-427, eff. 8-15-25) requires roofing contracts to include a rescission clause that lets the owner cancel within 72 hours and get a full refund of any deposit. It also requires a bold statement on the face of the contract that the roofer holds the owner's payment in trust until roofing materials are delivered to the site or a majority of the work is done. This applies only to roofing work.
  • Cancellation is Illinois's own home-solicitation rule (815 ILCS 505/2B), not the federal FTC rule. It covers sales of $25 or more where the seller is physically present at the home. 815 ILCS 505/1 defines 'merchandise' to include services. The 3-day period does not start until the buyer receives the Notice of Cancellation and the address to send it to. 'Business day' is not defined in 505/1, so the app should not say whether Saturdays count. 505/2B also excludes sales of real property, insurance and securities, and certain mortgage transactions with licensed loan brokers. Those are left out of exceptions because they are not home repair.
  • The exceptions listed are those of 505/2B and apply to the 3-day right. 815 ILCS 513/22 (the 15-business-day right for buyers 65 or older) lists no exceptions of its own, and none were verified, so the app should not say that a 2B exception removes the senior right. The 2B rule that the clock waits for the Notice of Cancellation also does not appear in 513/22.
  • Seniors: 815 ILCS 513/22 gives buyers age 65 or older 15 full business days after signing when they bought from an uninvited solicitor and the agreement was made at their home. The AG home repair page says 'Seniors over the age of 65' and leaves out the uninvited-solicitor condition; the AG 3-day handout and the Rev. 04/2023 pamphlet include it. This entry uses the statute's wording.
  • Insurance-funded contracts (815 ILCS 513/18(e)-(h)): the homeowner may cancel before midnight on whichever comes first: the 5th business day after the insurer gives written notice that all or part of the claim is not covered, or the 30th business day after the insurer receives a properly executed proof of loss. The notice of cancellation must include a copy of the insurer's notice. 513/18(h) says payments must be returned 'within 10 days', while the statutory Notice of Cancellation form in 18(g) and the pamphlet text in 513/20 say 'within 10 business days'; the app should not pick one. The contractor keeps the reasonable value of goods or services related to a catastrophe that the owner agreed in writing were needed to prevent damage. Two AG handouts (Home Repair_KnowYourRights.pdf dated 02.19, and tip 4 of the Rev. 04/2023 pamphlet) describe the second deadline as 'within 30 days after you sent a claim'. The statute governs, so the app should quote the statute, not the handouts.
  • Other AG wording differences: the AG home repair page says the Consumer Rights form is for work 'valued at $1000 or more', while 815 ILCS 513/20 says contracts 'over $1,000' (contracts of $1,000 or under get the pamphlet with no signed acknowledgment). The 02.19 AG handout says the 3-day right applies when the sale 'is over $25', while 505/2B says '$25 or more'. The statute governs in both cases.
  • Registration: Illinois has no statewide general contractor or home improvement license or registration, so registration is null. The AG's 'Home Repair and Construction: How to Choose a Contractor' sheet (Rev 07/26) says general contractors are not required to be licensed or certified but may need a permit from the municipality. The same sheet says roofers must be licensed by IDFPR and plumbers by IDPH. Cities and counties may license contractors locally; this entry does not cover local rules.
  • Insurance: 815 ILCS 513/25 requires home repair businesses to carry public liability and property damage insurance unless they have a net worth of at least $1,000,000. The section gives two different sets of amounts, one in its original paragraph and one 'on and after January 1, 2001', so the app should not quote a dollar figure.
  • Attorney fees: under 815 ILCS 513/31 (P.A. 104-33, eff. 8-1-25), if a home repair contract signed on or after that date lets any party recover attorney's fees, all parties may recover reasonable fees, whatever the contract says.
  • Scope of the Home Repair and Remodeling Act (815 ILCS 513/10): it covers residences of 6 or fewer units. It excludes maintenance, service or repairs under $500, original construction of homes, repairs to buildings of more than 6 units, carpet sale, installation, cleaning or repair, landscaping, and appliance work done by employees or agents of the merchant that sold the appliance or sold new products of the same type.
  • Trade coverage: HVAC is in neither list. The official pages checked contain no statewide HVAC license statute, and no official page says there is none. Water treatment is also in neither list: installing water softening equipment is excluded from 'plumbing' (225 ILCS 320/2), and no other statewide credential was checked. Smart-home is in neither list: alarm contractors and locksmiths (whose definition includes access control and video surveillance systems) need an IDFPR license (225 ILCS 447/10-5, 447/5-10), but 'smart-home' work does not map cleanly onto those licenses. Electrical and general_contractor are in neither list because no official page confirms the absence of a statewide credential; the evidence lines record what was found.
  • Sunset dates: the Water Well and Pump Installation Contractor's License Act shows a scheduled repeal date of January 1, 2027, so recheck the septic-well entry after that date. The Roofing Industry Licensing Act (January 1, 2031), Structural Pest Control Act (December 31, 2029), the private detective, alarm and locksmith Act 225 ILCS 447 (January 1, 2029) and the Home Inspector License Act (January 1, 2032) also carry repeal dates.
  • ilga.gov statute pages warn that the ILCS database may not yet include recent Public Acts and sometimes includes changes before they take effect. The source notes of the sections relied on show only Public Acts already in effect on 2026-10-04 (including P.A. 104-33, eff. 8-1-25; P.A. 104-427, eff. 8-15-25; P.A. 104-480, eff. 7-1-26; P.A. 104-746, eff. 7-31-26).
  • Verification on 2026-10-04: every page listed in sources was downloaded and read directly (the web-fetch tool failed ilga.gov's TLS certificate check, so the pages were downloaded with a standard HTTP client). None returned an error. The eCFR section 12 CFR 1026.23 was read through eCFR's renderer URL because the regular eCFR page returned a bot check.

General information from official Illinois sources. For your situation, ask the state's consumer protection office or a lawyer.

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