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  Your Guide to Landlord-Tenant Law
  
  Landlord-Tenant Law
  
  At some point throughout their lives the majority of people will be involved with the leasing of genuine estate, either as landlord or tenant. Laws that affect property managers and occupants can vary substantially from city to city. This pamphlet offers general information about being an occupant in Illinois. You ought to speak with a lawyer or your town or county as they may offer you with higher protection under the law.
  
  Tenancy Agreement
  
  The relationship between property manager and occupant arises from an agreement, written or oral, by which one celebration occupies the real estate of another with the owner's approval in return for the payment of certain amount as rent.
  
  Written Agreement: Most tenancies are in composing and are called a lease. No particular words are essential to create a lease, however usually the terms of a lease consist of a description of the real estate, the length of the agreement, the quantity of the rent, and the time of payment. TIP: You must put your agreement in writing to prevent future misunderstandings.
  
  Provisions in a lease agreement that safeguard a property owner from liability for damages to individuals or residential or commercial property triggered by the neglect of the landlord are considered as protesting public policy and are therefore unenforceable. Certain towns and counties have other restrictions and restriction on specific lease terms, so you should seek advice from an attorney or your town or county.
  
  Oral Agreement: If a tenancy contract is not in writing, the regard to the contract will, typically, be considered a month-to-month tenancy. The period is generally determined by the frequency of the rental payments. For example: week to week, month to month, or year to year. Although the terms of an oral lease might be challenging to figure out, a party may be bound to the terms of an oral arrangement just as much as a composed one.
  
  Termination of the Lease or Tenancy Agreement
  
  If a lease is not for a particular term, it may be terminated by either celebration with correct notification.
  
  - For year-to-year tenancies, aside from a lease of farmland, either party might end the lease by providing 60 days of composed notification at any time within the four months preceding the last 60 days of the lease.
• A week-to-week occupancy may be terminated by either celebration by providing seven days of written notification to the other celebration.
• Farm leases typically run for one year. Customarily, they start and end in March of each year. Notice to end need to be offered a minimum of 4 months before the end of the term.
• In all other lease contracts for a period of less than one year, a party should offer thirty days of composed notification. Any notification offered must call for termination on the last day of that rental duration.
• The lease might likewise have specified requirements and timeframe for termination of the lease.
• In specific municipalities and counties, proprietors are needed to provide more than the above specified notice duration for termination. You should seek advice from an attorney or your municipality or county.
  
  If the lease does mention a specific expiration or termination date, no termination notification is essential. Be mindful that your lease may likewise need notice of termination in a specific form or a higher notice period than the minimum needed by law, if any. Landlords need to keep in mind that no matter what the lease needs or states, you may be required to provide more than the notification period mentioned in the lease for termination and in writing. You need to seek advice from with an attorney or your municipality or county.
  
  Termination of a month-to-month tenancy generally only needs one month of notice by occupant and a landlord is required to serve a written notice of termination of tenancy on the renter (see Service on Demand section listed below). In certain towns and counties, property owners are needed to provide more than 1 month of notification, so you should seek advice from speak with an attorney or your municipality or county.
  
  Renewal of the Lease or Tenancy Agreement, Rental Increases
  
  Generally, a lease may be restored at any time by oral or written agreement of the celebrations. If a lease term ends and the proprietor accepts rent following the expiration of the term, the lease term instantly becomes month-to-month based upon the very same terms stated in the lease.
  
  The lease may require a particular notification and timeframe for renewing the lease. You should your lease to verify such requirements. Landlords and tenants need to keep in mind that no matter what the lease requires or mentions, property managers might also have restrictions on how early they can need renewal of a lease by a tenant and are required to put such in writing. You should speak with a lawyer or your municipality or county.
  
  Month-to-month tenancies instantly renew from month to month till terminated by either property manager or tenant.
  
  Unless there is a composed lease, a property manager can raise the rent by any quantity by providing the renter notification: Seven days of notice for a week-to-week tenancy, 1 month of notification for a month-to-month occupancy, and 90 days of notification for mobile home parks. In specific municipalities and counties, landlords are needed to give more than 7 or 1 month of notification of a rental boost, so you ought to talk to speak with an attorney or your municipality or county.
  
  Eviction, Termination of Tenants Right to Possession
  
  In Illinois, a proprietor does not have a right to self-help and need to submit an expulsion to remove an occupant or resident from the premises.
  
  Five-Day Notice. The most common breach of a lease is for non-payment of rent. In this case the property manager must serve a five-day notice upon the delinquent occupant unless the lease requires more than 5 days of notification. Five days after such notice is served, the property owner may start expulsion proceedings against the occupant. If, nevertheless, the occupant pays the complete amount of lease demanded in the five-day notification within those five days, the landlord may not proceed with an eviction. The landlord is not needed, however, to accept lease that is less than the specific amount due. If the landlord accepts a tender of a lower amount of rent, it might impact the rights to continue under the notification.
  
  10-Day Notice. If a property manager wants to end a lease due to the fact that of an infraction of the lease contract by the occupant, besides for non-payment of rent, he or she need to serve 10 days of composed notice upon the occupant before expulsion proceedings can start, unless the lease requires more than 10 days of notice. Acceptance of rent after such notification is a waiver by the property owner of the right to end the lease unless the breach experienced is a continuing breach.
  
  Holdover. If an occupant stays beyond the lease expiration date, generally, a proprietor might file an expulsion without having to very first serve a notice on the tenant. However, the regards to the lease or in specific towns or counties, a proprietor is required to provide a notification of non-renewal to the tenant, so you must talk to an attorney or your municipality or county.
  
  Service as needed Notice
  
  The five-day, 10-day, or termination of month-to-month tenancy notifications may be served upon renter by providing a composed or printed copy to the renter, leaving the same with some individual above the age of 13 years who lives at the party's residence, or sending a copy of the notification to the celebration by accredited or registered mail with a return receipt from the addressee. If no one remains in the real belongings of the premises, then posting notice on the properties is enough.
  
  Subletting or Assigning the Lease
  
  Often, written leases forbid the renter from subletting the premises without the written consent of the property manager. Such consent can not be unreasonably withheld, but the restriction is enforceable under the law. If there is no such restriction, then an occupant might sublease or appoint their lease to another. In such cases, however, the occupant will remain accountable to the property manager unless the property manager releases the original renter. A breach of the sublease will not change the preliminary relationship in between the property owner and renter.
  
  Breach by Landlord, Tenant Remedies
  
  If the property manager has breached the lease by failing to fulfill their tasks under the lease, specific treatments develop in favor of the occupant:
  
  - The renter may take legal action against the property owner for damages sustained as an outcome of the breach.
• If a proprietor fails to maintain a rented house in a habitable condition, the renter might have the ability to vacate the properties and terminate the lease under the theory of "positive expulsion."
• The failure of a property owner to preserve a rented home in a habitable condition or comply significantly with local housing codes may be a breach of the property owner's "suggested service warranty of habitability" (independent of any written lease provisions or oral pledges), which the tenant might assert as a defense to an eviction based upon the non-payment of lease or a claim for decrease in the rental value of the premises. However, breach by property owner does not automatically entitle a tenant to withhold rent or a reduction in the rental value. The responsibility to pay lease continues as long as the occupant stays in the rented facilities and to assert this defense successfully, the tenant will have to show that their damages arising from property manager's breach of this "implied guarantee" equivalent or exceed the rent declared due.
  
  A property owner's breach and occupant's damages may be challenging to prove. Because of the limited and technical nature of these rules, renters must be very cautious in keeping rent and needs to probably do so only after speaking with a lawyer.
  
  Please note that particular towns or counties provide for certain responsibilities and requirements that the landlord need to perform. If a landlord stops working to adhere to such obligations or requirements, the renter may have extra treatments for such failure. You need to seek advice from a lawyer or your town or county.
  
  Breach by the Tenant, Landlord Remedies
  
  In addition to termination for certain breaches by renter, a proprietor also has the following treatments:
  
  If lease is not paid, the property manager may: (1) demand the rent due or to end up being due in the future and (2) end the lease and gather any past rent due. Under particular situations in the event of non-payment of lease the property owner might hold the furniture and individual residential or commercial property of the renter until past rent is paid by the occupant.
  
  If a renter stops working to vacate the rented premise at the end of the lease term, the tenant may become liable for double rent for the period of holdover if the holdover is deemed to be willful. The renter can likewise be evicted.
  
  If the occupant harms the premises, the property manager might sue for the repair work of such damages.
  
  Please note that certain towns or counties offer particular obligations and requirements that the renter need to satisfy. If a tenant stops working to abide by such responsibilities or requirements, the property manager might have additional treatments for such failure. You need to seek advice from with a lawyer or your town or county.
  
  Discrimination
  
  Under the federal Fair Housing Act and Illinois law, it is illegal for a landlord to discriminate in the leasing of a residence house, flat, or home versus prospective tenants who have children under the age of 14. It is also illegal for a property owner to victimize a renter on the basis of race, religious beliefs, sex, national origin, income, sexual origination, gender identity, or special needs.
  
  Down Payment, Move-in Fee
  
  Security Deposit. A tenant can be required to deposit with the landlord a sum of money prior to inhabiting the residential or commercial property. This is typically described as a down payment. This money is considered to be security for any damage to the facilities or non-payment of lease. The down payment does not alleviate the tenant of the task to pay the last month's rent or for damage triggered to the facilities. It must be returned to the occupant upon vacating the premises if no damage has been done beyond normal wear and tear and the rent is totally paid.
  
  If a property manager fails to return the down payment without delay, the tenant can sue to recover the part of the down payment to which the occupant is entitled. In some towns or counties and particular scenarios under state law, when a landlord wrongfully withholds an occupant's down payment the tenant may have the ability to recuperate extra damages and lawyers' charges. You ought to talk to a lawyer.
  
  Generally, a proprietor who gets a down payment may not keep any part of that deposit as payment for residential or commercial property damage unless he provides to the tenant, within 1 month of the date the renter leaves, a declaration of damage allegedly brought on by the renter and the approximated or actual expense of repairing or changing each product on that statement. If no such statement is provided within 30 days, the proprietor needs to return the security deposit in complete within 45 days of the date the tenant vacated.
  
  If a structure consists of 25 or more property systems, the landlord needs to likewise pay interest on the deposit from the date it was paid, if held more than 67 months. Interest is determined at the rate paid by the biggest bank in Illinois, as figured out by total possessions, on a passbook security account.
  
  The above declarations regarding down payment are based on state law. However, some towns or counties may impose additional responsibilities. For example, Cook County, Evanston, Chicago, and Oak Park all have extra requirements that a property manager must comply with when taking down payment and offer high penalties when a property manager fails to comply.
  
  Move-in Fee. In addition to or as an alternative to a security deposit, a landlord might charge a move-in charge. Generally, there are no particular limitations on the quantity of a move-in fee, however, particular towns or counties do supply constraints. TIP: A move-in cost ought to be nonrefundable, otherwise it might be considered to be a down payment.
  
  Landlord and renter matters can become complex. Both landlord and occupant should seek advice from an attorney for help with particular problems. To learn more about your rights and responsibilities as a tenant, including specific landlord-tenant laws in your town or county, call 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 pamphlet is prepared and released by the Illinois State Bar Association as a civil service. Every effort has been made to provide precise details at the time of publication.
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