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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 included with the rental of genuine estate, either as property manager or tenant. Laws that affect proprietors and renters can vary considerably from city to city. This pamphlet offers general information about being an occupant in Illinois. You should talk to a lawyer or your municipality or county as they may provide you with greater security under the law.
  
  Tenancy Agreement
  
  The relationship between property owner and tenant occurs from an arrangement, written or oral, by which one party inhabits the genuine estate of another with the owner's permission in return for the payment of specific amount as rent.
  
  Written Agreement: Most occupancies remain in composing and are called a lease. No specific words are needed to develop a lease, however usually the terms of 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 composing to prevent future misunderstandings.
  
  Provisions in a lease contract that protect a property manager from liability for damages to individuals or residential or commercial property triggered by the carelessness of the property manager are deemed being versus public policy and are for that reason unenforceable. Certain towns and counties have other limitations and prohibition on specific lease terms, so you ought to talk to an attorney or your town or county.
  
  Oral Agreement: If an occupancy agreement is not in writing, the regard to the contract will, generally, be thought about a month-to-month tenancy. The period is normally figured out 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 tough to identify, a party may be bound to the terms of an oral contract simply as much as a written one.
  
  Termination of the Lease or Tenancy Agreement
  
  If a lease is not for a particular term, it might be terminated by either party with correct notice.
  
  - For year-to-year tenancies, aside from a lease of farmland, either party may terminate the lease by offering 60 days of composed notice at any time within the 4 months preceding the last 60 days of the lease.
• A week-to-week tenancy may be ended by either celebration by providing 7 days of written notice to the other celebration.
• Farm leases generally run for one year. Customarily, they begin and end in March of each year. Notice to end need to be offered at least four months before completion of the term.
• In all other lease contracts for a duration of less than one year, a party needs to give one month of written notification. Any notice provided must require termination on the last day of that rental period.
• The lease may likewise have specified requirements and timeframe for termination of the lease.
• In particular towns and counties, landlords are required to give more than the above specified notice duration for termination. You should talk to a lawyer or your municipality or county.
  
  If the lease does state a specific expiration or termination date, no termination notification is essential. Be mindful that your lease may also need notification of termination in a specific type or a higher notice duration than the minimum needed by law, if any. Landlords need to note that no matter what the lease requires or specifies, you may be required to give more than the notice period specified in the lease for termination and in writing. You ought to talk to a lawyer or your town or county.
  
  Termination of a month-to-month tenancy typically just needs 1 month of notification by tenant and a property owner is required to serve a written notice of termination of occupancy on the tenant (see Service as needed area listed below). In specific municipalities and counties, property owners are needed to provide more than one month of notification, so you must seek advice from speak with a lawyer or your town 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 parties. If a lease term ends and the proprietor accepts rent following the expiration of the term, the lease term instantly ends up being month-to-month based upon the very same terms stated in the lease.
  
  The lease may require a particular notice and timeframe for restoring the lease. You should examine your lease to confirm such requirements. Landlords and occupants ought to keep in mind that no matter what the lease requires or specifies, property owners may also have constraints on how early they can need renewal of a lease by a renter and are required to put such in writing. You ought to seek advice from an attorney or your town or county.
  
  Month-to-month occupancies instantly renew from month to month until terminated by either landlord or occupant.
  
  Unless there is a written lease, a property owner can raise the rent by any amount by offering the tenant notification: Seven days of notification for a week-to-week occupancy, 30 days of notice for a month-to-month tenancy, and 90 days of notice for mobile home parks. In particular towns and counties, proprietors are required to provide more than 7 or one month of notification of a rental increase, so you ought to seek advice from seek advice from a lawyer 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 should submit an expulsion to remove a renter or resident from the properties.
  
  Five-Day Notice. The most typical breach of a lease is for non-payment of rent. In this case the proprietor must serve a five-day notification upon the delinquent renter unless the lease requires more than five days of notification. Five days after such notification is served, the landlord might start expulsion procedures versus the tenant. If, nevertheless, the renter pays the total of rent demanded in the five-day notice within those five days, the property owner might not proceed with an expulsion. The property manager is not needed, nevertheless, to accept rent that is less than the specific amount due. If the landlord accepts a tender of a lesser quantity of lease, it might affect the rights to proceed under the notice.
  
  10-Day Notice. If a landlord wants to terminate a lease because of a violation of the lease arrangement by the tenant, other than for non-payment of lease, he or she must serve 10 days of written notification upon the occupant before eviction procedures can begin, unless the lease needs more than 10 days of notification. Acceptance of lease after such notification is a waiver by the proprietor of the right to terminate the lease unless the breach experienced is a continuing breach.
  
  Holdover. If a renter stays beyond the lease expiration date, usually, a property manager might submit an expulsion without having to very first serve a notification on the tenant. However, the regards to the lease or in certain municipalities or counties, a proprietor is required to supply a notification of non-renewal to the occupant, so you ought to consult with a lawyer or your municipality 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 providing a composed or printed copy to the renter, leaving the same with some person 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 licensed or registered mail with a return receipt from the addressee. If nobody remains in the actual belongings of the properties, then publishing notice on the premises is sufficient.
  
  Subletting or Assigning the Lease
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  Often, composed leases restrict the renter from subletting the properties without the written authorization of the proprietor. Such authorization can not be unreasonably kept, however the restriction 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 occupant will stay accountable to the property owner unless the landlord launches the original renter. A breach of the sublease will not change the preliminary relationship between the property manager and tenant.
  
  Breach by Landlord, Tenant Remedies
  
  If the proprietor has breached the lease by stopping working to satisfy their duties under the lease, certain remedies arise in favor of the renter:
  
  - The renter might sue the property owner for as an outcome of the breach.
• If a property manager fails to preserve a leased home in a livable condition, the occupant may be able to abandon the facilities and terminate the lease under the theory of "constructive expulsion."
• The failure of a property owner to keep a rented home in a habitable condition or comply considerably with local housing codes may be a breach of the property manager's "implied warranty of habitability" (independent of any written lease provisions or oral pledges), which the occupant might 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 proprietor does not immediately entitle a renter to keep rent or a decrease in the rental worth. The obligation to pay rent continues as long as the tenant stays in the rented premises and to assert this defense successfully, the tenant will have to reveal that their damages arising from property owner's breach of this "implied warranty" equivalent or exceed the rent declared due.
  
  A property owner's breach and tenant's damages might be hard to show. Because of the minimal and technical nature of these rules, occupants ought to be extremely careful in withholding rent and must probably do so only after consulting an attorney.
  
  Please note that particular towns or counties supply for specific responsibilities and requirements that the proprietor should perform. If a property manager fails to comply with such commitments or requirements, the tenant may have extra treatments for such failure. You need to speak with a lawyer or your municipality or county.
  
  Breach by the Tenant, Landlord Remedies
  
  In addition to termination for certain breaches by tenant, a property manager likewise has the following remedies:
  
  If rent is not paid, the property manager might: (1) sue for the lease due or to become due in the future and (2) terminate the lease and gather any past lease due. Under particular situations in the occasion of non-payment of lease the property owner might hold the furniture and individual residential or commercial property of the occupant up until past lease is paid by the tenant.
  
  If an occupant fails to abandon the rented facility at the end of the lease term, the tenant may end up being liable for double lease for the period of holdover if the holdover is deemed to be willful. The renter can likewise be kicked out.
  
  If the tenant harms the properties, the proprietor might take legal action against for the repair of such damages.
  
  Please note that particular towns or counties provide for certain obligations and requirements that the tenant should meet. If an occupant fails to comply with such responsibilities or requirements, the landlord might have additional remedies for such failure. You ought to speak with an attorney or your municipality or county.
  
  Discrimination
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  Under the federal Fair Housing Act and Illinois law, it is illegal for a property manager to discriminate in the leasing of a residence house, flat, or house against prospective occupants who have kids under the age of 14. It is likewise illegal for a property manager to discriminate against a renter on the basis of race, religious beliefs, sex, nationwide origin, source of earnings, sexual origination, gender identity, or impairment.
  
  Down Payment, Move-in Fee
  
  Down payment. A tenant can be required to deposit with the property manager a sum of money prior to inhabiting the residential or commercial property. This is usually described as a security deposit. This cash is considered to be security for any damage to the premises or non-payment of rent. The security deposit does not relieve the occupant of the duty to pay the last month's rent or for damage triggered to the premises. It should be returned to the tenant upon vacating the premises if no damage has actually been done beyond regular wear and tear and the lease is fully paid.
  
  If a property owner stops working to return the down payment without delay, the occupant can sue to recuperate the portion of the security deposit to which the tenant is entitled. In some towns or counties and particular scenarios under state law, when a landlord wrongfully withholds a tenant's down payment the renter might be able to recuperate extra damages and attorneys' charges. You must talk to a lawyer.
  
  Generally, a property owner who gets a down payment might not keep any part of that deposit as payment for residential or commercial property damage unless he furnishes to the renter, within 30 days of the date the tenant leaves, a statement of damage supposedly caused by the occupant and the estimated or real expense of repairing or replacing each item on that statement. If no such statement is provided within one month, the proprietor should return the security deposit in complete within 45 days of the date the renter left.
  
  If a building consists of 25 or more residential systems, the landlord should 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 biggest bank in Illinois, as determined by total properties, on a passbook security account.
  
  The above statements relating to security deposits are based upon state law. However, some municipalities or counties might enforce additional commitments. For example, Cook County, Evanston, Chicago, and Oak Park all have additional requirements that a property manager must adhere to when taking down payment and offer high charges when a proprietor stops working to comply.
  
  Move-in Fee. In addition to or as an option to a security deposit, a property manager may charge a move-in fee. Generally, there are no specific limitations on the quantity of a move-in fee, however, particular municipalities or counties do supply restrictions. TIP: A move-in cost ought to be nonrefundable, otherwise it might be deemed to be a down payment.
  
  Landlord and renter matters can end up being complex. Both landlord and renter ought to seek advice from a lawyer for support with specific issues. To learn more about your rights and responsibilities as an occupant, including particular landlord-tenant laws in your municipality 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 ready and published by the Illinois State Bar Association as a public service. Every effort has been made to provide precise info at the time of publication.