Need Legal Help? Legal Information Judicial Information Civics Education

• Site Search
  
  Your Guide to Landlord-Tenant Law
  
  Landlord-Tenant Law
  
  At some point throughout their lives many people will be included with the leasing of realty, either as landlord or tenant. Laws that affect proprietors and occupants can differ considerably from city to city. This handout supplies basic details about being a tenant in Illinois. You ought to consult with an attorney or your town or county as they may offer you with higher protection under the law.
  
  Tenancy Agreement
  
  The relationship between property manager and renter occurs from an agreement, written or oral, by which one celebration inhabits the real estate of another with the owner's approval in return for the payment of particular quantity as rent.
  
  Written Agreement: Most tenancies remain in writing and are called a lease. No specific words are necessary to create a lease, however typically the terms of a lease include a description of the realty, the length of the agreement, the quantity of the lease, and the time of payment. TIP: You need to put your agreement in composing to prevent future misunderstandings.
  
  Provisions in a lease contract that secure a proprietor from liability for damages to persons or residential or commercial property triggered by the carelessness of the property owner are viewed as being against public policy and are therefore unenforceable. Certain municipalities and counties have other limitations and restriction on certain lease terms, so you need to consult with an attorney or your municipality or county.
  
  Oral Agreement: If a tenancy agreement is not in writing, the regard to the agreement will, normally, be thought about a month-to-month occupancy. The period is usually determined by the frequency of the rental payments. For example: week to week, month to month, or year to year. Although the regards to an oral lease may be tough to determine, a party may be bound to the terms of an oral arrangement simply as much as a written one.
  
  Termination of the Lease or Tenancy Agreement
  
  If a lease is not for a specific term, it might be terminated by either party with correct notification.
  
  - For year-to-year tenancies, besides a lease of farmland, either celebration may end the lease by offering 60 days of written notice at any time within the four months preceding the last 60 days of the lease.
• A week-to-week tenancy may be terminated by either celebration by offering 7 days of written notice to the other celebration.
• Farm leases normally run for one year. Customarily, they start and end in March of each year. Notice to terminate should be offered a minimum of 4 months before completion of the term.
• In all other lease arrangements for a duration of less than one year, a party needs to give one month of written notification. Any notification provided need to require termination on the last day of that rental period.
• The lease may likewise have stated requirements and timeframe for termination of the lease.
• In particular municipalities and counties, property managers are needed to give more than the above stated notice period for termination. You ought to talk to a lawyer or your municipality or county.
  bloglines.com
  If the lease does state a specific expiration or termination date, no termination notice is essential. Understand that your lease may likewise need notice of termination in a specific kind or a greater notification duration than the minimum needed by law, if any. Landlords should note that no matter what the lease needs or mentions, you might be required to give more than the notice duration mentioned in the lease for termination and in composing. You need to talk to a lawyer or your town or county.
  
  Termination of a month-to-month occupancy usually just needs thirty days of notice by renter and a property manager is required to serve a composed notice of termination of tenancy on the tenant (see Service as needed area below). In certain towns and counties, proprietors are required to provide more than 30 days of notice, so you need to seek advice from seek advice from a lawyer or your town or county.
  
  Renewal of the Lease or Tenancy Agreement, Rental Increases
  
  Generally, a lease may be renewed at any time by oral or written agreement of the celebrations. If a lease term ends and the property manager accepts lease following the expiration of the term, the lease term automatically becomes month-to-month based upon the very same terms stated in the lease.
  
  The lease might need a particular notification and timeframe for restoring the lease. You should evaluate your lease to confirm such requirements. Landlords and renters should keep in mind that no matter what the lease needs or states, proprietors may likewise have constraints on how early they can need renewal of a lease by an occupant and are required to put such in composing. You should seek advice from a lawyer or your town or county.
  
  Month-to-month occupancies immediately restore from month to month till terminated by either landlord or renter.
  
  Unless there is a composed lease, a property manager can raise the lease by any quantity by offering the renter notification: Seven days of notification for a week-to-week tenancy, thirty days of notification for a month-to-month occupancy, and 90 days of notification for mobile home parks. In specific municipalities and counties, proprietors are needed to provide more than 7 or thirty days of notice of a rental increase, so you need to consult with speak with a lawyer or your town or county.
  
  Eviction, Termination of Tenants Right to Possession
  
  In Illinois, a proprietor does not have a right to self-help and need to file an eviction to eliminate a renter or occupant from the facilities.
  
  Five-Day Notice. The most common breach of a lease is for non-payment of lease. In this case the property manager should serve a five-day notification upon the delinquent tenant unless the lease requires more than 5 days of notification. Five days after such notification is served, the proprietor may commence expulsion procedures against the tenant. If, however, the occupant pays the complete amount of lease required in the five-day notice within those five days, the property manager may not proceed with an expulsion. The landlord is not required, nevertheless, to accept rent that is less than the precise amount due. If the property manager accepts a tender of a lower quantity of lease, it might affect the rights to continue under the notification.
  
  10-Day Notice. If a property owner wishes to end a lease since of an offense of the lease contract by the tenant, besides for non-payment of rent, she or he need to serve 10 days of written notification upon the occupant before expulsion procedures can start, unless the lease needs more than 10 days of notification. Acceptance of rent after such notice is a waiver by the proprietor of the right to terminate the lease unless the breach grumbled of is a continuing breach.
  
  Holdover. If an occupant stays beyond the lease expiration date, normally, a landlord may submit an eviction without needing to first serve a notification on the occupant. However, the regards to the lease or in specific towns or counties, a property manager is needed to supply a notice of non-renewal to the tenant, so you must seek advice from a lawyer or your town or county.
  
  Service on Demand Notice
  
  The five-day, 10-day, or termination of month-to-month tenancy notices might be served upon renter by delivering a composed or printed copy to the occupant, leaving the same with some individual above the age of 13 years who lives at the celebration's residence, or sending out a copy of the notification to the celebration by certified or signed up mail with a return receipt from the addressee. If no one is in the actual belongings of the facilities, then posting notification on the properties suffices.
  
  Subletting or Assigning the Lease
  
  Often, composed leases restrict the occupant from subletting the facilities without the written authorization of the property owner. Such authorization can not be unreasonably withheld, however the restriction is enforceable under the law. If there is no such restriction, then a tenant may sublease or appoint their lease to another. In such cases, nevertheless, the occupant will remain accountable to the property manager unless the property manager releases the original renter. A breach of the sublease will not alter the initial relationship between the property manager and tenant.
  
  Breach by Landlord, Tenant Remedies
  
  If the proprietor has breached the lease by stopping working to meet their responsibilities under the lease, particular remedies emerge in favor of the tenant:
  
  - The occupant may sue the proprietor for damages sustained as a result of the breach.
• If a property manager fails to keep a leased residence in a livable condition, the renter may be able to leave the premises and end the lease under the theory of "constructive eviction."
• The failure of a landlord to keep a leased home in a livable condition or comply substantially with local housing codes may be a breach of the landlord's "implied warranty of habitability" (independent of any written lease arrangements or oral pledges), which the occupant may assert as a defense to an expulsion based on the non-payment of lease or a claim for reduction in the rental worth of the premises. However, breach by landlord does not automatically entitle a renter to withhold rent or a decrease in the rental worth. The responsibility to pay rent continues as long as the renter remains in the rented properties and to assert this defense successfully, the tenant will have to show that their damages resulting from property manager's breach of this "implied guarantee" equivalent or surpass the rent claimed due.
  
  A property owner's breach and occupant's damages may be tough to show. Because of the restricted and technical nature of these rules, tenants should be exceptionally careful in keeping lease and should probably do so just after seeking advice from a lawyer.
  
  Please note that particular municipalities or counties provide for specific commitments and requirements that the proprietor must carry out. If a landlord fails to comply with such obligations or requirements, the tenant may have extra solutions for such failure. You must seek advice from with a lawyer or your town or county.
  
  Breach by the Tenant, Landlord Remedies
  
  In addition to termination for specific breaches by occupant, a property manager also has the following treatments:
  
  If rent is not paid, the property owner may: (1) demand the lease due or to become due in the future and (2) terminate the lease and gather any past lease due. Under particular scenarios in the occasion of non-payment of lease the landlord may hold the furnishings and personal residential or commercial property of the tenant until previous rent is paid by the tenant.
  
  If an occupant stops working to abandon the rented facility at the end of the lease term, the tenant may end up being accountable for double lease for the duration of holdover if the holdover is considered to be willful. The renter can likewise be evicted.
  
  If the tenant harms the premises, the property manager may demand the repair of such damages.
  
  Please note that specific municipalities or counties offer particular responsibilities and requirements that the renter should meet. If a tenant fails to comply with such obligations or requirements, the property manager may have extra remedies for such failure. You must from a lawyer or your town or county.
  
  Discrimination
  
  Under the federal Fair Housing Act and Illinois law, it is illegal for a property owner to discriminate in the leasing of a residence house, flat, or apartment against potential tenants who have kids under the age of 14. It is also illegal for a landlord to victimize a tenant on the basis of race, religious beliefs, sex, national origin, income, sexual origination, gender identity, or special needs.
  
  Security Deposits, Move-in Fee
  bloglines.com
  Security Deposit. A renter can be needed to deposit with the property owner a sum of money prior to inhabiting the residential or commercial property. This is normally described as a security deposit. This money is deemed to be security for any damage to the properties or non-payment of rent. The down payment does not eliminate the renter of the task to pay the last month's lease or for damage triggered to the premises. It should be gone back to the tenant upon leaving the facilities if no damage has been done beyond normal wear and tear and the rent is completely paid.
  
  If a landlord stops working to return the security deposit without delay, the renter can take legal action against to recover the part of the down payment to which the renter is entitled. In some towns or counties and certain scenarios under state law, when a landlord wrongfully withholds a tenant's down payment the renter might be able to recuperate additional damages and attorneys' costs. You need to talk to an attorney.
  
  Generally, a proprietor who gets a security deposit may not keep any part of that deposit as settlement for residential or commercial property damage unless he provides to the renter, within 30 days of the date the occupant leaves, a declaration of damage presumably triggered by the occupant and the estimated or real cost of repairing or replacing each item on that declaration. If no such declaration is provided within 30 days, the landlord should return the down payment completely within 45 days of the date the occupant vacated.
  
  If a building consists of 25 or more domestic units, the property manager should also pay interest on the deposit from the date it was paid, if held more than 67 months. Interest is calculated at the rate paid by the largest bank in Illinois, as figured out by overall properties, on a passbook security account.
  
  The above declarations relating to down payment are based on state law. However, some municipalities or counties may impose extra commitments. For example, Cook County, Evanston, Chicago, and Oak Park all have extra requirements that a property manager need to adhere to when taking down payment and provide steep penalties when a property manager fails to comply.
  
  Move-in Fee. In addition to or as an alternative to a down payment, a property manager may charge a move-in fee. Generally, there are no specific constraints on the quantity of a move-in cost, however, certain towns or counties do offer constraints. TIP: A move-in cost must be nonrefundable, otherwise it could be considered to be a security deposit.
  
  Landlord and renter matters can become complex. Both property manager and renter should seek advice from a lawyer for support with particular issues. To learn more about your rights and obligations as an occupant, including particular landlord-tenant laws in your town or county, contact your regional bar association, or check out the Illinois Tenants Union at www.tenant.org.
  
  Additional Resources
  
  - Illinois Lawyer Finder: isba.org/public/illinoislawyerfinder
• Illinois Legal Aid Online (ILAO): illinoislegalaid.org
• Illinois Standardized Court Forms: illinoiscourts.gov/ approved-forms.
• Illinois Court Help: ilcourthelp.gov.
• Illinois Free Legal Answers: il.freelegalanswers.org
  
  Prepared by the Illinois State Bar Association's Real Estate Law Section (2024 )
  
  This handout is ready and published by the Illinois State Bar Association as a civil service. Every effort has been made to provide precise information at the time of publication.