BondPermit
Chicago, IL · free public-record lookup

Look up a Chicago STR licence by name

Type a name — yours, your company's, or just part of one — and see every shared housing registration the city has on record for it: the address, the licence number, whether it is currently active, and a link to check each line against the city's registration record.

Look up a name — free, no signup →
3,851
total shared housing registration records in the register

Counts read directly from the city's open-data portal on 2026-08-12. They change as the city updates its register — the lookup always reads it live, at the moment you check.

Why a licence stops being current without telling you

Registrations are maintained by the city and can change status over time; the register is the authoritative view.

Chicago is an operator's register

Chicago publishes active shared-housing registrations only — no expired tail, no application queue. What stands out is concentration: 82 hosts hold three or more registrations, together accounting for 843 registered units. If you operate more than one unit, your portfolio is visible in one search, and the city's own house-share registration search will confirm any line — our lookup links to it on every row.

What you get back

Common questions

Why can't I find an old Chicago registration?

Chicago's open dataset lists active registrations. A registration that lapsed drops out rather than being marked expired — absence from the list is the signal, which is easy to misread as never having been registered.

I manage several Chicago units — do they all show?

Yes, under whichever host name each was registered. Multi-unit operators are the register's norm, not the exception; search the host name and every unit registered under it comes back.

Is Chicago STR licence information really public?

Yes. The city publishes the register as open data — holder name, status and address are all part of the public record. Our lookup reads that same source and links each line back to it so you can confirm every row with the city rather than trusting us.

What if I don't know the exact name on the licence?

Type any part of it. The lookup matches on fragments, so a surname or one distinctive word from the company name is enough. Licences are often held under an LLC or a co-owner rather than the name you use day to day, so it's worth trying a few.

Does it cost anything, or need an account?

Neither. There is no signup, no card and nothing to install. You type a name and read the result.

Is this legal advice?

No. BondPermit is an information service, not a law firm and not the city. We show you the public record and link to the city's own page for each entry; decisions about your properties should be confirmed with the issuing authority.

More from the same team

The same lookup covers New Orleans, Orlando, Cambridge and Marin County as well as Chicago — search a name free, no signup.

We also build Glint, a read-only scanner for Shopify and Stripe stores that surfaces charges a payment processor quietly stopped retrying. Different problem, same principle as this page: show the record, cite it, let you verify it. First scan free.

Check a name now →

Source: Chicago open-data portal · city guidance: official Chicago short-term rental page. BondPermit is an independent information service — not the city, not a law firm, and not legal advice. Confirm anything that matters with the issuing authority.