Don’t Get Left Out in the Cold: A Guide to the Illinois Eviction Process

It’s a tale as old as time. You purchase an investment property and want to rent out a couple of units to pay the mortgage and maybe make some extra money. After a great deal of searching, you find a few people you believe to be the perfect tenants. Months later, the tenants have stopped paying you rent. Or maybe they got a giant dog when the lease prohibits pets. Now what? Article IX of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure (the “Code”) governs the eviction process in Illinois. In order to evict a tenant, landlords must follow the procedures set forth in the Code very closely or they risk having their case thrown out of court.

No Self-Help Eviction: Have you ever seen a movie or television show where a landlord starts walking around an apartment building slapping eviction notices on tenants’ doors, throwing their belongings on the front lawn, and locking them out of the apartment? Seems like a great idea, right? Wrong. Illinois prohibits what is referred to as “self-help” eviction, which means that if your tenant violates any portion of the lease (including failing to pay rent), you cannot take any of your own measures to remove them from the property. You have to follow the steps set forth in Article IX of the Code. The first step is giving them proper notice.

5-Day and 10-Day Notice: If a tenant fails to pay you rent, you must serve them with a 5-day notice that sets forth how much they owe and demanding that they pay that amount within 5 days of service. 735 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/9-209 (2019). If they fail to do so, the landlord may consider the lease terminated. Id . If the tenant violates a different provision of the lease (such as getting that giant dog), then the landlord must serve them with a 10-day notice demanding that they cease the alleged violation within 10 days of service. If the tenant fails to comply with the notice, the landlord may consider the lease terminated. 735 ILCS 5/9-210.

Regardless of the type of notice, every notice must contain the following: (1) a description of the leased premises (usually the address); (2) the reason for the termination of the lease (usually failure to pay rent or violation of a lease provision); and (3) when the lease will terminate after service of the termination notice. Id . The landlord can serve the notice upon the tenant in several ways: 1) giving a printed copy to the tenant or a person 13 years or older who also resides in the unit; 2) mailing a printed copy to the tenant via certified or registered mail; or 3) posting the same on the door of the unit. 735 ILCS 5/9-211.

If the tenant complies with the notice within the appropriate time frame, then the lease continues. If they do not, the landlord may consider the lease terminated. How do you get them out? You must file an eviction action against them (formerly known as forcible entry and detainer). This process is very similar to traditional litigation, but is a process in and of itself and, thus, will be discussed in a future article.

If you have any questions regarding the eviction process in Illinois, feel free to contact attorney Joshua Pagan at jpagan@lavellelaw.com or 312-888-4119.