Landlord-Tenant Law
At some point during their lives most people will be involved with the rental of real estate, either as landlord or tenant. Laws that affect landlords and tenants can vary significantly from city to city. This pamphlet provides general information about being a tenant in Illinois. You should consult with an attorney or your municipality or county as they may provide you with greater protection under the law.
Tenancy Agreement
The relationship between landlord and tenant arises from an agreement, written or oral, by which one party occupies the real estate of another with the owner's consent in return for the payment of certain amount as rent.
Written Agreement: Most tenancies are in writing and are called a lease. No particular words are necessary to create a lease, but generally the terms of a lease include a description of the real estate, the length of the agreement, the amount of the rent, and the time of payment. TIP: You should put your agreement in writing to avoid future misunderstandings.
Provisions in a lease agreement that protect a landlord from liability for damages to persons or property caused by the negligence of the landlord are viewed as being against public policy and are therefore unenforceable. Certain municipalities and counties have other restrictions and prohibition on certain lease terms, so you should consult with an attorney or your municipality or county.
Oral Agreement: If a tenancy agreement is not in writing, the term of the agreement will, generally, 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 may be difficult to determine, a party may be bound to the terms of an oral agreement just as much as a written one.
Termination of the Lease or Tenancy Agreement
If a lease is not for a specific term, it may be terminated by either party with proper notice.
- For year-to-year tenancies, other than a lease of farmland, either party may terminate the lease by giving 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 party by giving seven days of written notice to the other party.
- Farm leases generally run for one year. Customarily, they begin and end in March of each year. Notice to terminate must be given at least four months before the end of the term.
- In all other lease agreements for a period of less than one year, a party must give 30 days of written notice. Any notice given should call for termination on the last day of that rental period.
- The lease may also have stated requirements and timeframe for termination of the lease.
- In certain municipalities and counties, landlords are required to give more than the above stated notice period for termination. You should consult with an attorney or your municipality or county.
If the lease does state a specific expiration or termination date, no termination notice is necessary. Be aware that your lease may also require notice of termination in a specific form or a greater notice period than the minimum required by law, if any. Landlords should note that no matter what the lease requires or states, you may be required to give more than the notice period stated in the lease for termination and in writing. You should consult with an attorney or your municipality or county.
Termination of a month-to-month tenancy usually only requires 30 days of notice by tenant and a landlord is required to serve a written notice of termination of tenancy on the tenant (see Service on Demand section below). In certain municipalities and counties, landlords are required to give more than 30 days of notice, so you should consult with consult with an attorney or your municipality 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 parties. If a lease term expires and the landlord accepts rent following the expiration of the term, the lease term automatically becomes month-to-month based on the same terms set forth in the lease.
The lease may require a specific notice and timeframe for renewing the lease. You should review your lease to confirm such requirements. Landlords and tenants should note that no matter what the lease requires or states, landlords may also have restrictions on how early they can require renewal of a lease by a tenant and are required to put such in writing. You should consult with an attorney or your municipality or county.
Month-to-month tenancies automatically renew from month to month until terminated by either landlord or tenant.
Unless there is a written lease, a landlord can raise the rent by any amount by giving the tenant notice: Seven days of notice for a week-to-week tenancy, 30 days of notice for a month-to-month tenancy, and 90 days of notice for mobile home parks. In certain municipalities and counties, landlords are required to give more than seven or 30 days of notice of a rental increase, so you should consult with consult with an attorney or your municipality or county.
Eviction, Termination of Tenants Right to Possession
In Illinois, a landlord does not have a right to self-help and must file an eviction to remove a tenant or occupant from the premises.
Five-Day Notice. The most common breach of a lease is for non-payment of rent. In this case the landlord must serve a five-day notice upon the delinquent tenant unless the lease requires more than five days of notice. Five days after such notice is served, the landlord may commence eviction proceedings against the tenant. If, however, the tenant pays the full amount of rent demanded in the five-day notice within those five days, the landlord may not proceed with an eviction. The landlord is not required, however, to accept rent that is less than the exact amount due. If the landlord accepts a tender of a lesser amount of rent, it may affect the rights to proceed under the notice.
10-Day Notice. If a landlord wishes to terminate a lease because of a violation of the lease agreement by the tenant, other than for non-payment of rent, he or she must serve 10 days of written notice upon the tenant before eviction proceedings can begin, unless the lease requires more than 10 days of notice. Acceptance of rent after such notice is a waiver by the landlord of the right to terminate the lease unless the breach complained of is a continuing breach.
Holdover. If a tenant stays beyond the lease expiration date, generally, a landlord may file an eviction without having to first serve a notice on the tenant. However, the terms of the lease or in certain municipalities or counties, a landlord is required to provide a notice of non-renewal to the tenant, so you should consult with an attorney or your municipality or county.
Service on Demand Notice
The five-day, 10-day, or termination of month-to-month tenancy notices may be served upon tenant by delivering a written or printed copy to the tenant, leaving the same with some person above the age of 13 years who lives at the party's residence, or sending a copy of the notice to the party by certified or registered mail with a return receipt from the addressee. If no one is in the actual possession of the premises, then posting notice on the premises is sufficient.
Subletting or Assigning the Lease
Often, written leases prohibit the tenant from subletting the premises without the written consent of the landlord. Such consent cannot be unreasonably withheld, but the prohibition is enforceable under the law. If there is no such prohibition, then a tenant may sublease or assign their lease to another. In such cases, however, the tenant will remain responsible to the landlord unless the landlord releases the original tenant. A breach of the sublease will not change the initial relationship between the landlord and tenant.
Breach by Landlord, Tenant Remedies
If the landlord has breached the lease by failing to meet their duties under the lease, certain remedies arise in favor of the tenant:
- The tenant may sue the landlord for damages sustained as a result of the breach.
- If a landlord fails to maintain a leased residence in a livable condition, the tenant may be able to vacate the premises and terminate the lease under the theory of "constructive eviction."
- The failure of a landlord to maintain a leased residence 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 provisions or oral promises), which the tenant may assert as a defense to an eviction based on the non-payment of rent or a claim for reduction in the rental value of the premises. However, breach by landlord does not automatically entitle a tenant to withhold rent or a reduction in the rental value. The obligation to pay rent continues as long as the tenant remains in the leased premises and to assert this defense successfully, the tenant will have to show that their damages resulting from landlord's breach of this "implied warranty" equal or exceed the rent claimed due.
A landlord's breach and tenant's damages may be difficult to prove. Because of the limited and technical nature of these rules, tenants should be extremely cautious in withholding rent and should probably do so only after consulting an attorney.
Please note that certain municipalities or counties provide for certain obligations and requirements that the landlord must perform. If a landlord fails to comply with such obligations or requirements, the tenant may have additional remedies for such failure. You should consult with an attorney or your municipality or county.
Breach by the Tenant, Landlord Remedies
In addition to termination for certain breaches by tenant, a landlord also has the following remedies:
If rent is not paid, the landlord may: (1) sue for the rent due or to become due in the future and (2) terminate the lease and collect any past rent due. Under certain circumstances in the event of non-payment of rent the landlord may hold the furniture and personal property of the tenant until past rent is paid by the tenant.
If a tenant fails to vacate the leased 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 tenant can also be evicted.
If the tenant damages the premises, the landlord may sue for the repair of such damages.
Please note that certain municipalities or counties provide for certain obligations and requirements that the tenant must fulfill. If a tenant fails to comply with such obligations or requirements, the landlord may have additional remedies for such failure. You should consult with an attorney or your municipality or county.
Discrimination
Under the federal Fair Housing Act and Illinois law, it is unlawful for a landlord to discriminate in the leasing of a dwelling house, flat, or apartment against prospective tenants who have children under the age of 14. It is also unlawful for a landlord to discriminate against a tenant on the basis of race, religion, sex, national origin, source of income, sexual origination, gender identity, or disability.
Security Deposits, Move-in Fee
Security Deposit. A tenant can be required to deposit with the landlord a sum of money prior to occupying the property. This is usually referred to as a security deposit. This money is deemed to be security for any damage to the premises or non-payment of rent. The security deposit does not relieve the tenant of the duty to pay the last month’s rent or for damage caused to the premises. It must be returned to the tenant upon vacating the premises if no damage has been done beyond normal wear and tear and the rent is fully paid.
If a landlord fails to return the security deposit promptly, the tenant can sue to recover the portion of the security deposit to which the tenant is entitled. In some municipalities or counties and certain circumstances under state law, when a landlord wrongfully withholds a tenant’s security deposit the tenant may be able to recover additional damages and attorneys’ fees. You should consult with a lawyer.
Generally, a landlord who receives a security deposit may not withhold any part of that deposit as compensation for property damage unless he furnishes to the tenant, within 30 days of the date the tenant vacates, a statement of damage allegedly caused by the tenant and the estimated or actual cost of repairing or replacing each item on that statement. If no such statement is furnished within 30 days, the landlord must return the security deposit in full within 45 days of the date the tenant vacated.
If a building contains 25 or more residential units, the landlord must 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 determined by total assets, on a passbook security account.
The above statements regarding security deposits are based on state law. However, some municipalities or counties may impose additional obligations. For example, Cook County, Evanston, Chicago, and Oak Park all have additional requirements that a landlord must comply with when taking security deposits and provide steep penalties when a landlord fails to comply.
Move-in Fee. In addition to or as an alternative to a security deposit, a landlord may charge a move-in fee. Generally, there are no specific limitations on the amount of a move-in fee, however, certain municipalities or counties do provide restrictions. TIP: A move-in fee should be nonrefundable, otherwise it could be deemed to be a security deposit.
Landlord and tenant matters can become complex. Both landlord and tenant should consult an attorney for assistance with particular problems. For more information about your rights and responsibilities as a tenant, including specific landlord-tenant laws in your municipality or county, contact your local 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)