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  Your Guide to Landlord-Tenant Law
  
  Landlord-Tenant Law
  
  At some time throughout their lives many people will be involved with the leasing of property, either as property owner or renter. Laws that affect property managers and renters can vary significantly from city to city. This pamphlet provides basic details about being a tenant in Illinois. You should speak with an attorney or your town or county as they may provide you with greater security under the law.
  
  Tenancy Agreement
  
  The relationship in between property manager and renter occurs from an agreement, composed or oral, by which one celebration inhabits the property of another with the owner's authorization in return for the payment of certain quantity as rent.
  
  Written Agreement: Most occupancies remain in composing and are called a lease. No specific words are required to create a lease, however normally the regards to a lease consist of a description of the genuine estate, the length of the arrangement, the amount of the rent, and the time of payment. TIP: You should put your contract in writing to avoid future misconceptions.
  
  Provisions in a lease arrangement that safeguard a property owner from liability for damages to individuals or residential or commercial property triggered by the carelessness of the landlord are deemed being versus public law and are for that reason unenforceable. Certain towns and counties have other limitations and restriction on specific lease terms, so you need to consult with an attorney or your municipality or county.
  
  Oral Agreement: If an occupancy arrangement is not in writing, the term of the contract will, typically, be considered a month-to-month tenancy. The duration is usually identified 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 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 terminated by either celebration with proper notification.
  
  - For year-to-year tenancies, aside from a lease of farmland, either party may end the lease by giving 60 days of written notification at any time within the four months preceding the last 60 days of the lease.
• A week-to-week occupancy might be terminated by either celebration by offering seven days of composed notice to the other celebration.
• Farm leases typically run for one year. Customarily, they begin and end in March of each year. Notice to terminate need to be provided at least 4 months before the end of the term.
• In all other lease arrangements for a period of less than one year, a party should provide thirty days of written notification. Any notification offered need to call for termination on the last day of that rental duration.
• The lease may likewise have specified requirements and timeframe for termination of the lease.
• In certain towns and counties, proprietors are required to provide more than the above mentioned notice duration for termination. You need to seek advice from a lawyer or your town or county.
  
  If the lease does specify a particular expiration or termination date, no termination notice is required. Be mindful that your lease may also require notice of termination in a particular type or a greater notification period than the minimum required by law, if any. Landlords should keep in mind that no matter what the lease needs or mentions, you may be required to offer more than the notice period mentioned in the lease for termination and in composing. You need to talk to a lawyer or your municipality or county.
  
  Termination of a month-to-month tenancy generally only needs one month of notification by occupant and a proprietor is required to serve a written notification of termination of occupancy on the tenant (see Service on Demand section below). In specific municipalities and counties, landlords are required to offer more than one month of notification, so you should consult with speak with an attorney or your town or county.
  
  Renewal of the Lease or Tenancy Agreement, Rental Increases
  
  Generally, a lease might be restored at any time by oral or written arrangement of the parties. If a lease term ends and the proprietor accepts lease following the expiration of the term, the lease term instantly becomes month-to-month based upon the exact same terms set forth in the lease.
  
  The lease might require a specific notification and timeframe for renewing the lease. You should review your lease to validate such requirements. Landlords and occupants should keep in mind that no matter what the lease requires or mentions, proprietors may also have constraints on how early they can require renewal of a lease by a renter and are needed to put such in composing. You must speak with an attorney or your town or county.
  
  Month-to-month tenancies automatically restore from month to month up until ended by either landlord or renter.
  
  Unless there is a written lease, a property owner can raise the rent by any quantity by giving the occupant notification: Seven days of notification for a week-to-week tenancy, thirty days of notice for a month-to-month tenancy, and 90 days of notification for mobile home parks. In particular municipalities and counties, property owners are required to offer more than 7 or 30 days of notification of a rental increase, so you should seek advice from with talk to a lawyer 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 get rid of an occupant or occupant from the properties.
  
  Five-Day Notice. The most typical breach of a lease is for non-payment of lease. In this case the landlord should serve a five-day notice upon the overdue renter unless the lease requires more than 5 days of notice. Five days after such notice is served, the landlord may begin expulsion procedures against the occupant. If, however, the tenant pays the full amount of rent demanded in the five-day notice within those five days, the property manager may not continue with an eviction. The landlord is not required, however, to accept lease that is less than the precise amount due. If the property owner accepts a tender of a lesser quantity of rent, it may impact the rights to continue under the notice.
  
  10-Day Notice. If a property owner wants to terminate a lease since of an infraction of the lease agreement by the tenant, other than for non-payment of rent, he or she need to serve 10 days of written notice upon the tenant before eviction proceedings can begin, 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 end the lease unless the breach suffered is a continuing breach.
  
  Holdover. If a tenant remains beyond the lease expiration date, normally, a property owner may submit an eviction without having to very first serve a notification on the renter. However, the terms of the lease or in certain towns or counties, a landlord is required to supply a notification of non-renewal to the occupant, so you ought to 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 occupancy notices might be served upon tenant by providing a composed or printed copy to the renter, leaving the exact same with some individual above the age of 13 years who lives at the celebration's residence, or sending a copy of the notification to the celebration by accredited or signed up mail with a return invoice from the addressee. If nobody remains in the actual ownership of the facilities, then posting notice on the properties suffices.
  
  Subletting or Assigning the Lease
  
  Often, written leases forbid the renter from subletting the facilities without the composed permission of the proprietor. Such approval can not be unreasonably withheld, but 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 stay accountable to the proprietor unless the proprietor releases the initial renter. A breach of the sublease will not alter the initial relationship in between the landlord and tenant.
  
  Breach by Landlord, Tenant Remedies
  
  If the landlord has breached the lease by failing to fulfill their responsibilities under the lease, particular remedies arise in favor of the occupant:
  
  - The renter may sue the property owner for damages sustained as an outcome of the breach.
• If a property owner fails to maintain a leased residence in a habitable condition, the occupant may be able to vacate the premises and terminate the lease under the theory of "constructive eviction."
• The failure of a property manager to preserve a rented home in a habitable condition or comply substantially with local housing codes might be a breach of the property manager's "implied service warranty of habitability" (independent of any composed lease provisions or oral guarantees), which the renter might assert as a defense to an eviction based upon the non-payment of lease or a claim for decrease in the rental worth of the properties. However, breach by proprietor does not immediately entitle a tenant to withhold rent or a reduction in the rental value. The responsibility to pay lease continues as long as the renter remains in the rented facilities and to assert this defense successfully, the occupant will have to show that their damages resulting from property owner's breach of this "implied warranty" equivalent or surpass the lease claimed due.
  
  A property manager's breach and tenant's damages might be challenging to show. Because of the minimal and technical nature of these guidelines, renters must be exceptionally cautious in withholding lease and needs to most likely do so only after speaking with a lawyer.
  
  Please note that particular or counties supply for specific obligations and requirements that the property manager need to carry out. If a property manager stops working to comply with such responsibilities or requirements, the occupant may have additional solutions for such failure. You need to talk to 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 likewise has the following treatments:
  
  If lease is not paid, the proprietor might: (1) sue for the rent due or to become due in the future and (2) end the lease and collect any past rent due. Under specific circumstances in case of non-payment of rent the property owner might hold the furniture and individual residential or commercial property of the occupant up until previous lease is paid by the occupant.
  
  If an occupant stops working to vacate the leased facility at the end of the lease term, the renter might end up being liable for double lease for the period of holdover if the holdover is deemed to be willful. The tenant can also be forced out.
  
  If the renter damages the premises, the property owner may sue for the repair work of such damages.
  
  Please note that certain municipalities or counties provide for particular responsibilities and requirements that the tenant must fulfill. If a tenant fails to abide by such commitments or requirements, the landlord might have extra treatments for such failure. You ought to talk to an attorney or your town 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 dwelling home, flat, or apartment or condo against potential occupants who have children under the age of 14. It is likewise unlawful for a proprietor to victimize a renter on the basis of race, faith, sex, nationwide origin, income, sexual origination, gender identity, or disability.
  
  Down Payment, Move-in Fee
  
  Down payment. A renter can be required to deposit with the property manager a sum of money prior to inhabiting the residential or commercial property. This is usually referred to as a security deposit. This money is deemed to be security for any damage to the facilities or non-payment of rent. The down payment does not ease the renter of the task to pay the last month's rent or for damage caused to the premises. It must be returned to the renter upon leaving the properties if no damage has been done beyond typical wear and tear and the lease is fully paid.
  
  If a landlord fails to return the security deposit quickly, the occupant can sue to recuperate the part of the security deposit to which the occupant is entitled. In some towns or counties and certain situations under state law, when a property manager wrongfully keeps an occupant's security deposit the occupant might be able to recuperate additional damages and lawyers' fees. You must seek advice from a lawyer.
  
  Generally, a landlord who receives a security deposit might not withhold any part of that deposit as compensation for residential or commercial property damage unless he provides to the occupant, within 1 month of the date the renter vacates, a statement of damage apparently brought on by the tenant and the estimated or actual expense of fixing or replacing each product on that declaration. If no such statement is furnished within one month, the property owner must return the down payment completely within 45 days of the date the renter vacated.
  
  If a structure includes 25 or more residential units, the proprietor needs to likewise pay interest on the deposit from the date it was paid, if held more than 67 months. Interest is computed at the rate paid by the largest bank in Illinois, as figured out by overall properties, on a passbook security account.
  
  The above declarations regarding security deposits are based upon state law. However, some towns or counties may impose extra responsibilities. For instance, Cook County, Evanston, Chicago, and Oak Park all have extra requirements that a landlord should adhere to when taking security deposits and provide steep penalties when a landlord fails to comply.
  
  Move-in Fee. In addition to or as an option to a down payment, a property owner might charge a move-in cost. Generally, there are no particular limitations on the amount of a move-in fee, however, particular municipalities or counties do supply constraints. TIP: A move-in charge should be nonrefundable, otherwise it might be considered to be a down payment.
  
  Landlord and occupant matters can become complex. Both landlord and renter must speak with an attorney for support with specific problems. For more details about your rights and responsibilities as a renter, including specific landlord-tenant laws in your town or county, call 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 )
  
  This pamphlet is prepared and released by the Illinois State Bar Association as a civil service. Every effort has actually been made to supply accurate details at the time of publication.