Illinois eviction law

Any time after rent is due, you may give the tenant a written demand saying the lease will end unless the rent is paid within a stated time of at least 5 days after the notice is served. If the tenant does not pay in full, you may treat the lease as ended and file an eviction case without further notice.

735 ILCS 5/9-209

• For partial payments not to cancel the notice, it must prominently state: "Only FULL PAYMENT of the rent demanded in this notice will waive the landlord's right to terminate the lease under this notice, unless the landlord agrees in writing to continue the lease in exchange for receiving partial payment." 735 ILCS 5/9-209
• Serve the notice by handing it to the tenant, leaving it with someone 13 or older who lives at or is in possession of the home, or sending it by certified or registered mail with a return receipt from the tenant. Post it on the premises only if no one is in possession. 735 ILCS 5/9-211
• Accepting past-due rent after you file the eviction case for the rent demanded does not cancel the case. 735 ILCS 5/9-209
• Count the days by leaving out the day of service and counting the last day; if the last day is a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, it moves to the next day that is not. 5 ILCS 70/1.11

When a tenant breaks another term of the lease, a written notice to quit of 10 days is enough to end the tenancy. The statute does not give the tenant a right to stop the notice by fixing the problem.

735 ILCS 5/9-210

• The notice may follow the statute's form: it names the default, describes the home, says you have elected to end the lease, and tells the tenant to leave within 10 days. You or your agent sign it. 735 ILCS 5/9-210
• Serve it the same ways as a rent demand. 735 ILCS 5/9-211 See Notice for unpaid rent on the Illinois page
• If a tenant or occupant uses or allows the home to be used for a felony or Class A misdemeanor, you may declare the lease void, give a written notice to vacate, and file for possession if the tenant has not left within 5 days after receiving it; a written lease must tell the tenant this right, though leaving it out does not waive it. 735 ILCS 5/9-120(a) 735 ILCS 5/9-120(d)
• If a tenant or occupant is charged with a Class X felony on the premises and a court finds probable cause at a preliminary hearing or a grand jury indicts, you may void the lease with a 5-day posted notice on the circuit clerk's form, but only if the parties signed a drug-free housing addendum. 765 ILCS 705/5
• For direct evidence of illegal drug activity, prohibited firearms or listed violent crimes on the premises, you may file a verified emergency eviction complaint without first serving a notice ending the tenancy, and the complaint and demand must be served at least 14 days before the hearing. 735 ILCS 5/9-118
• For a home covered by Cook County's RTLO, a material lease breach notice must identify the breach and allow at least ten days before termination, with a right to remedy the breach during that period. The notice is withdrawn if the landlord does not file within 30 days after notification of termination or the end of the next rental period, whichever is longer. Accepting rent with knowledge of the alleged breach can waive termination for it. Cook County Code § 42-109(b)(1), (c)(1)

To recover possession you file an eviction complaint in the circuit court for the county where the property is. The court enters an eviction order only if you prove your case by a preponderance of the evidence.

735 ILCS 5/9-106 735 ILCS 5/9-109.5

• In a residential case either side may demand a jury, even if the lease waives one. 735 ILCS 5/9-108
• You may not name a minor (under 18 and not emancipated) as a defendant; a complaint that does is dismissed against everyone and sealed, and a minor named willfully and wantonly can recover attorney's fees, actual damages and $1,000 in liquidated damages. 735 ILCS 5/9-106(b) 735 ILCS 5/9-106(c) 735 ILCS 5/9-106(d)
• A claim for unpaid rent may be joined with the eviction case. 735 ILCS 5/9-209
• The statewide eviction order form set by the Supreme Court must be used, and an eviction order cannot be enforced more than 120 days after it is entered unless the court extends it. 735 ILCS 5/9-109.6 735 ILCS 5/9-117
• It is a defense if the eviction is based solely on the tenant being a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual violence or stalking, or based solely or in part on the tenant's citizenship or immigration status, or, once the lease has begun and the tenant has moved in, on the tenant's failure to provide a social security number, credit report information or identification you accept. 735 ILCS 5/9-106.2 735 ILCS 5/9-106.3
• The court may seal an eviction file when the case lacked a basis in fact or law, and must seal certain foreclosure-related cases and cases dismissed for naming a minor. 735 ILCS 5/9-121
• You may not threaten to report a tenant's immigration status to harass the tenant or to push the tenant out, or file for possession based on that status. 765 ILCS 755/10(f)
• If an Illinois service member tenant in military service, or a family member living with the tenant, has given you orders for more than 29 consecutive days of service, the court may, and on the tenant's motion must, stay the eviction for 90 days (unless justice requires a different period) or adjust the rent obligation when the service materially affects the ability to pay; a violation is a civil rights violation. 735 ILCS 5/9-107.10
• The Illinois Courts forms page requires residential eviction summons to include the Court-Based Rental Assistance notice in both English and Spanish. Check the local court's instructions as well, because counties such as Cook and DuPage may require different or additional information. Use the current approved eviction complaint and summons forms. Illinois Courts: eviction forms and assistance
• The court lists different orders for a move-out settlement, a pay-and-stay settlement, dismissal after compliance and dismissal that may be reinstated if an agreement is broken. Choose the document that matches the actual agreement and understand its conditions. A conversation about settlement does not itself establish that the court case has been dismissed. Illinois Courts: eviction forms and assistance
• Rental assistance may be available through the statewide Court-Based Rental Assistance Program for people with an eviction case already in court. The court page also directs qualifying residents to legal-aid and mediation services, with separate resources for Cook County and the rest of Illinois. Check current eligibility and deadlines while continuing to follow court instructions. Illinois Courts: eviction forms and assistance

Among the statutes read, Illinois names no lockout penalty, but no one may take possession of property except where the law allows it, and then only peaceably; the eviction case is how a landlord recovers possession from a tenant who stays after the tenancy ends. You may not cause a tenant's utilities to be cut off. Court decisions on self-help were not read.

735 ILCS 5/9-101 735 ILCS 5/9-102 765 ILCS 735/1.4

• You may not cause water, gas, electric or sanitary service to be interrupted by not paying bills you are responsible for or by tampering with equipment. Short shutoffs are allowed for emergencies, or for repairs after 7 days' written notice to each affected tenant. 765 ILCS 735/1.4 765 ILCS 735/1.1
• A tenant whose service is cut off in violation of that rule gets a full rent abatement for the time without service plus consequential damages, and a court may add up to $300 per tenant (or $5,000 split among affected tenants, whichever is less) for bad-faith conduct. 765 ILCS 735/2.1
• Survivors of domestic or sexual violence may require a lock change; a landlord who changes locks must try in good faith to give the tenant a key within 48 hours. 765 ILCS 750/20(b) See Locks and rekeying on the Illinois page

None of the Illinois acts read for this page sets a procedure, notice or storage period for belongings a tenant leaves behind. The only abandonment section in the Eviction Article concerns crops on the land. Get legal advice before disposing of a tenant's belongings.

735 ILCS 5, Article IX 765 ILCS 705

• When a tenant abandons the premises, the landlord may seize and harvest crops grown there to pay the rent; that section says nothing about furniture or other belongings. 735 ILCS 5/9-318

You may not knowingly end a tenancy, raise rent, cut services, sue or threaten to sue for possession, or refuse to renew because a tenant in good faith complained to a government agency, official or community organization, asked for repairs, joined a tenants' union, testified about the property's condition, or used any legal right.

765 ILCS 721/5

• If the protected activity happened within one year before your action, the law presumes retaliation unless you rebut it; the presumption does not arise if the activity started after your action. 765 ILCS 721/20
• An action is not retaliatory if you prove a legitimate, non-retaliatory reason, or that you started it before the tenant's protected activity. 765 ILCS 721/15
• A tenant who proves retaliation has a defense to your case and may end the lease and get back the deposit, interest and prepaid rent, recover possession, and recover 2 months' rent or twice the damages, whichever is greater, plus attorney's fees. 765 ILCS 721/10
• The Landlord Retaliation Act replaced the repealed Retaliatory Eviction Act on January 1, 2025. 765 ILCS 721/95