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Your Guide to Landlord-Tenant Law
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Landlord-Tenant Law

At some time during their lives many people will be included with the rental of real estate, either as or tenant. Laws that affect property managers and renters can vary considerably from city to city. This pamphlet provides basic information about being a tenant in Illinois. You ought to speak with an attorney or your town or county as they may provide you with higher protection under the law.

Tenancy Agreement

The relationship between landlord and occupant occurs from an agreement, written or oral, by which one celebration inhabits the property of another with the owner's authorization in return for the payment of specific amount as lease.

Written Agreement: Most occupancies are in writing and are called a lease. No particular words are needed to create a lease, however normally the terms of a lease include a description of the property, the length of the arrangement, the quantity of the rent, and the time of payment. TIP: You should put your contract in writing to prevent future misconceptions.

Provisions in a lease contract that safeguard a landlord from liability for damages to individuals or residential or commercial property caused by the neglect of the property owner are considered as being against public policy and are therefore unenforceable. Certain municipalities and counties have other limitations and prohibition on particular lease terms, so you must talk to an attorney or your municipality or county.

Oral Agreement: If an occupancy arrangement is not in composing, the term of the arrangement will, usually, be thought about a month-to-month occupancy. The duration is typically determined by the frequency of the rental payments. For instance: week to week, month to month, or year to year. Although the regards to an oral lease might be difficult to determine, a celebration might be bound to the regards to an oral contract simply as much as a composed one.

Termination of the Lease or Tenancy Agreement

If a lease is not for a particular term, it might be ended by either celebration with proper notification.

- For year-to-year occupancies, other than a lease of farmland, either celebration might end the lease by providing 60 days of composed notification at any time within the 4 months preceding the last 60 days of the lease.
A week-to-week occupancy may be ended by either party by providing 7 days of written notification to the other celebration.
Farm leases normally run for one year. Customarily, they start and end in March of each year. Notice to terminate need to be offered a minimum of four months before the end of the term.
In all other lease agreements for a period of less than one year, a party needs to provide thirty days of composed notice. Any notice offered must call for termination on the last day of that rental period.
The lease may also have actually specified requirements and timeframe for termination of the lease.
In certain towns and counties, proprietors are needed to provide more than the above stated notification duration for termination. You ought to talk to an attorney or your town or county.

If the lease does mention a specific expiration or termination date, no termination notice is required. Understand that your lease may likewise require notification of termination in a specific type or a higher notification duration than the minimum needed by law, if any. Landlords must note that no matter what the lease needs or states, you may be needed to give more than the notification period stated in the lease for termination and in composing. You should talk to a lawyer or your municipality or county.

Termination of a month-to-month occupancy generally just needs 1 month of notice by tenant and a property owner is needed to serve a written notification of termination of occupancy on the tenant (see Service on Demand section below). In specific municipalities and counties, property owners are needed to give more than 30 days of notice, so you ought to seek advice from consult with an attorney or your town or county.

Renewal of the Lease or Tenancy Agreement, Rental Increases

Generally, a lease might be renewed at any time by oral or written contract of the celebrations. If a lease term ends and the property owner accepts rent following the expiration of the term, the lease term automatically ends up being month-to-month based on the very same terms set forth in the lease.

The lease may need a specific notification and timeframe for restoring the lease. You must examine your lease to verify such requirements. Landlords and renters ought to note that no matter what the lease needs or mentions, proprietors may likewise have limitations on how early they can require renewal of a lease by a tenant and are required to put such in writing. You ought to speak with an attorney or your town or county.

Month-to-month tenancies automatically renew from month to month up until terminated by either property owner or renter.

Unless there is a composed lease, a proprietor can raise the rent by any amount by offering the occupant notice: Seven days of notice for a week-to-week tenancy, one month of notice for a month-to-month tenancy, and 90 days of notification for mobile home parks. In certain towns and counties, property managers are required to offer more than seven or 1 month of notice of a rental boost, so you need to speak with seek advice from an attorney or your municipality or county.

Eviction, Termination of Tenants Right to Possession

In Illinois, a property manager does not have a right to self-help and must file an eviction to get rid of an occupant or occupant from the facilities.

Five-Day Notice. The most common breach of a lease is for non-payment of rent. In this case the landlord need to serve a five-day notification upon the overdue occupant unless the lease needs more than five days of notice. Five days after such notice is served, the proprietor may begin expulsion proceedings against the renter. If, however, the renter pays the complete amount of lease demanded in the five-day notice within those 5 days, the proprietor might not proceed with an eviction. The property manager is not needed, however, to accept lease that is less than the exact quantity due. If the property owner accepts a tender of a lesser quantity of rent, it might impact the rights to continue under the notice.

10-Day Notice. If a landlord wants to end a lease since of an offense of the lease agreement by the renter, other than for non-payment of lease, he or she should serve 10 days of written notice upon the tenant before eviction proceedings can start, unless the lease needs more than 10 days of notice. Acceptance of rent after such notice is a waiver by the property manager of the right to end the lease unless the breach suffered is a continuing breach.

Holdover. If a tenant stays beyond the lease expiration date, usually, a landlord might submit an eviction without having to very first serve a notice on the tenant. However, the regards to the lease or in specific towns or counties, a property owner is needed to provide a notification of non-renewal to the occupant, so you ought to speak with a lawyer or your municipality or county.

Service as needed Notice

The five-day, 10-day, or termination of month-to-month tenancy notifications might be served upon renter by delivering a written or printed copy to the tenant, leaving the very 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 party by accredited or signed up mail with a return receipt from the addressee. If nobody remains in the real possession of the premises, then publishing notice on the properties suffices.

Subletting or Assigning the Lease

Often, composed leases restrict the occupant from subletting the premises without the composed consent of the proprietor. Such consent can not be unreasonably kept, however the prohibition is enforceable under the law. If there is no such restriction, then a tenant may sublease or designate their lease to another. In such cases, however, the renter will stay responsible to the proprietor unless the landlord launches the initial occupant. A breach of the sublease will not change the preliminary relationship between the property owner and tenant.

Breach by Landlord, Tenant Remedies

If the property owner has actually breached the lease by failing to satisfy their duties under the lease, particular solutions emerge in favor of the occupant:

- The renter may take legal action against the proprietor for damages sustained as a result of the breach.
If a property owner fails to maintain a rented residence in a livable condition, the occupant might be able to abandon the properties and terminate the lease under the theory of "useful expulsion."
The failure of a property manager to preserve a leased residence in a livable condition or comply substantially with regional housing codes may be a breach of the landlord's "suggested warranty of habitability" (independent of any written lease provisions or oral pledges), which the renter might assert as a defense to an expulsion based on the non-payment of rent or a claim for decrease in the rental value of the facilities. However, breach by proprietor does not immediately entitle an occupant to withhold lease or a decrease in the rental value. The obligation to pay rent continues as long as the occupant remains in the rented properties and to assert this defense effectively, the renter will have to reveal that their damages resulting from property owner's breach of this "implied service warranty" equivalent or exceed the rent claimed due.

A property owner's breach and tenant's damages might be tough to prove. Because of the restricted and technical nature of these guidelines, renters must be extremely careful in keeping rent and should probably do so just after speaking with an attorney.

Please note that specific municipalities or counties offer specific responsibilities and requirements that the property owner need to perform. If a property manager stops working to adhere to such commitments or requirements, the tenant may have extra remedies for such failure. You ought to talk to an attorney or your town or county.

Breach by the Tenant, Landlord Remedies

In addition to termination for particular breaches by renter, a proprietor also has the following treatments:

If rent is not paid, the property manager might: (1) sue for the rent due or to end up being due in the future and (2) terminate the lease and gather any previous lease due. Under certain circumstances in case of non-payment of lease the property manager may hold the furnishings and personal residential or commercial property of the renter till past lease is paid by the occupant.

If a renter fails to vacate the rented property at the end of the lease term, the tenant might become liable for double rent for the period of holdover if the holdover is considered to be willful. The occupant can also be forced out.

If the renter harms the premises, the landlord might sue for the repair of such damages.

Please note that particular municipalities or counties offer certain obligations and requirements that the renter should satisfy. If an occupant fails to comply with such responsibilities or requirements, the property manager might have extra treatments for such failure. You should seek advice from an attorney or your municipality or county.

Discrimination

Under the federal Fair Housing Act and Illinois law, it is unlawful for a property owner to discriminate in the leasing of a home home, flat, or apartment or condo versus prospective occupants who have children under the age of 14. It is also unlawful for a property owner to discriminate against a renter on the basis of race, religious beliefs, sex, national origin, income source, sexual origination, gender identity, or special needs.

Security Deposits, Move-in Fee

Security Deposit. A renter can be needed to deposit with the proprietor a sum of money prior to occupying the residential or commercial property. This is normally referred to as a security deposit. This cash is considered to be security for any damage to the facilities or non-payment of lease. The security deposit does not eliminate the occupant of the responsibility to pay the last month's rent or for damage caused to the facilities. It must be gone back to the occupant upon vacating the premises if no damage has been done beyond regular wear and tear and the lease is completely paid.

If a landlord fails to return the down payment immediately, the occupant can take legal action against to recuperate 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 property manager wrongfully withholds an occupant's down payment the renter might have the ability to recover additional damages and attorneys' costs. You need to talk to a lawyer.

Generally, a property manager who receives a down payment may not withhold any part of that deposit as settlement for residential or commercial property damage unless he furnishes to the occupant, within one month of the date the renter vacates, a statement of damage allegedly triggered by the occupant and the estimated or actual expense of repairing or changing each product on that declaration. If no such declaration is furnished within 30 days, the landlord needs to return the down payment completely within 45 days of the date the renter vacated.

If a building includes 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 biggest bank in Illinois, as identified by total assets, on a passbook security account.

The above declarations relating to security deposits are based upon state law. However, some towns or counties might impose extra obligations. For example, Cook County, Evanston, Chicago, and Oak Park all have additional requirements that a property owner need to abide by when taking security deposits and supply steep penalties when a proprietor stops working to comply.

Move-in Fee. In addition to or as an alternative to a security deposit, a landlord might charge a move-in fee. Generally, there are no particular limitations on the amount of a move-in cost, however, particular towns or counties do supply limitations. TIP: A move-in charge ought to be nonrefundable, otherwise it could be deemed to be a down payment.

Landlord and occupant matters can become complex. Both proprietor and tenant ought to seek advice from a lawyer for help with specific issues. For more info about your rights and obligations as a tenant, consisting of specific landlord-tenant laws in your municipality or county, contact your regional bar association, or visit 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 prepared and published by the Illinois State Bar Association as a public service. Every effort has been made to supply accurate information at the time of publication.