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  Your Guide to Landlord-Tenant Law
  
  Landlord-Tenant Law
  
  At some time throughout their lives the majority of people will be involved with the rental of realty, either as property owner or tenant. Laws that affect landlords and tenants can vary substantially from city to city. This handout provides basic details about being a renter in Illinois. You should talk to an attorney or your town or county as they may offer you with higher protection under the law.
  
  Tenancy Agreement
  
  The relationship in between landlord and tenant occurs from an arrangement, composed or oral, by which one party occupies the property of another with the owner's authorization in return for the payment of particular quantity as rent.
  
  Written Agreement: Most tenancies are in composing and are called a lease. No particular words are required to create a lease, but generally the regards to a lease consist of a description of the property, the length of the arrangement, the amount of the rent, and the time of payment. TIP: You should put your arrangement in composing to avoid future misconceptions.
  
  Provisions in a lease arrangement that secure a landlord from liability for damages to individuals or residential or commercial property brought on by the negligence of the property owner are considered as protesting public law and are for that reason unenforceable. Certain towns and counties have other restrictions and restriction on certain lease terms, so you must seek advice from a lawyer or your town or county.
  
  Oral Agreement: If an occupancy arrangement is not in writing, the regard to the arrangement will, generally, be thought about a month-to-month tenancy. The duration is normally identified 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 may be hard to identify, a party might be bound to the terms of an oral arrangement simply 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 celebration with appropriate notice.
  
  - For year-to-year tenancies, aside from a lease of farmland, either celebration 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 terminated by either celebration by offering 7 days of written notification to the other celebration.
• Farm leases usually run for one year. Customarily, they start and end in March of each year. Notice to terminate need to be given a minimum of 4 months before completion of the term.
• In all other lease agreements for a duration of less than one year, a party must offer one month of written notice. Any notice given must require termination on the last day of that rental duration.
• The lease may likewise have mentioned requirements and timeframe for termination of the lease.
• In certain towns and counties, landlords are needed to offer more than the above stated notification duration for termination. You must seek advice from with a lawyer or your town or county.
  
  If the lease does specify a particular expiration or termination date, no termination notice is essential. Be aware that your lease may also require notice of termination in a particular type or a higher notice period than the minimum required by law, if any. Landlords need to note that no matter what the lease requires or states, you may be required to offer more than the notification duration specified in the lease for termination and in composing. You must speak with an attorney or your municipality or county.
  
  Termination of a month-to-month tenancy usually just needs thirty days of notice by tenant and a property owner is required to serve a composed notification of termination of tenancy on the renter (see Service on Demand section listed below). In specific towns and counties, proprietors are required to give more than 30 days of notification, so you ought to speak with talk to an attorney or your municipality or county.
  
  Renewal of the Lease or Tenancy Agreement, Rental Increases
  
  Generally, a lease might be restored at any time by oral or written contract 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 exact same terms set forth in the lease.
  
  The lease might need a specific notice and timeframe for restoring the lease. You need to evaluate your lease to verify such requirements. Landlords and occupants should note that no matter what the lease needs or states, property managers might likewise have constraints on how early they can need renewal of a lease by an occupant and are required to put such in composing. You need to talk to an attorney or your municipality or county.
  
  Month-to-month tenancies automatically restore from month to month till ended by either proprietor or renter.
  
  Unless there is a composed lease, a proprietor can raise the rent by any amount by giving the occupant notification: Seven days of notice for a week-to-week occupancy, 30 days of notification for a month-to-month occupancy, and 90 days of notice for mobile home parks. In specific municipalities and counties, proprietors are needed to offer more than seven or 30 days of notification of a rental boost, so you ought to seek advice from with seek advice from with 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 must file an eviction to remove a renter or occupant from the premises.
  
  Five-Day Notice. The most common breach of a lease is for non-payment of lease. In this case the property manager need to serve a five-day notice upon the delinquent occupant unless the lease requires more than five days of notice. Five days after such notification is served, the proprietor may start expulsion proceedings versus the tenant. If, nevertheless, the tenant pays the complete amount of rent demanded in the five-day notification within those 5 days, the proprietor might not proceed with an expulsion. The landlord is not required, however, to accept lease that is less than the specific quantity due. If the landlord accepts a tender of a lower quantity of lease, it might impact the rights to continue under the notification.
  
  10-Day Notice. If a property manager wishes to end a lease since of an offense of the lease agreement by the tenant, besides for non-payment of lease, he or she should serve 10 days of composed notification upon the renter before expulsion procedures can begin, unless the lease needs more than 10 days of notification. Acceptance of lease after such notice is a waiver by the property owner of the right to terminate the lease unless the breach complained of is a continuing breach.
  
  Holdover. If a renter stays beyond the lease expiration date, typically, a landlord may submit an eviction without having to first serve a notification on the renter. However, the terms of the lease or in certain municipalities or counties, a landlord is required to provide a notification of non-renewal to the tenant, so you must consult with 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 occupant by delivering a composed or printed copy to the renter, leaving the same with some individual above the age of 13 years who lives at the celebration's home, or sending out a copy of the notice to the party by accredited or signed up mail with a return invoice from the addressee. If nobody remains in the actual possession of the properties, then publishing notification on the facilities is sufficient.
  
  Subletting or Assigning the Lease
  
  Often, written leases restrict the occupant from subletting the premises without the composed permission of the proprietor. Such authorization can not be unreasonably withheld, however the restriction is enforceable under the law. If there is no such prohibition, then an occupant might sublease or designate their lease to another. In such cases, nevertheless, the tenant will remain accountable to the property owner unless the proprietor releases the original renter. A breach of the sublease will not alter the initial relationship between the landlord and renter.
  
  Breach by Landlord, Tenant Remedies
  
  If the property owner has breached the lease by failing to meet their tasks under the lease, specific remedies develop in favor of the occupant:
  
  - The occupant may sue the proprietor for damages sustained as a result of the breach.
• If a property manager stops working to preserve a leased house in a livable condition, the renter may have the ability to leave the premises and end the lease under the theory of "constructive expulsion."
• The failure of a property manager to preserve a rented home in a livable condition or comply considerably with local housing codes may be a breach of the property manager's "indicated service warranty of habitability" (independent of any composed lease arrangements or oral guarantees), which the renter might assert as a defense to an eviction based on the non-payment of rent or a claim for reduction in the rental worth of the properties. However, breach by property manager does not immediately entitle a renter to keep rent or a reduction in the rental value. The obligation to pay lease continues as long as the occupant remains in the rented properties and to assert this defense successfully, the renter will have to show that their damages arising from property owner's breach of this "implied service warranty" equal or surpass the rent declared due.
  
  A property owner's breach and renter's damages may be tough to show. Because of the minimal and technical nature of these rules, renters should be very cautious in withholding lease and needs to most likely do so only after speaking with an attorney.
  
  Please note that particular municipalities or counties attend to particular obligations and requirements that the property owner must carry out. If a property owner stops working to comply with such commitments or requirements, the occupant might have extra solutions for such failure. You should speak with an attorney or your town or county.
  
  Breach by the Tenant, Landlord Remedies
  
  In addition to termination for certain breaches by tenant, a proprietor also has the following treatments:
  
  If lease is not paid, the property manager might: (1) sue for the rent due or to become due in the future and (2) terminate the lease and gather any previous rent due. Under specific circumstances in case of non-payment of lease the property manager might hold the furniture and personal residential or commercial property of the tenant up until previous rent is paid by the renter.
  
  If an occupant stops working to abandon the rented property at the end of the lease term, the renter might become accountable for double rent for the period of holdover if the holdover is considered to be willful. The renter can likewise be forced out.
  
  If the occupant harms the properties, the property owner may demand the repair work of such damages.
  
  Please note that specific municipalities or counties offer for certain obligations and requirements that the tenant should meet. If a renter stops working to comply with such obligations 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 illegal for a property owner to discriminate in the leasing of a dwelling home, flat, or apartment against potential tenants who have children under the age of 14. It is likewise unlawful for a property owner to victimize an occupant on the basis of race, religion, sex, national origin, source of earnings, sexual origination, gender identity, or impairment.
  
  Security Deposits, Move-in Fee
  
  Security Deposit. A renter can be required to deposit with the property manager an amount of cash prior to occupying the residential or commercial property. This is typically described as a down payment. This cash is considered to be security for any damage to the properties or non-payment of lease. The security deposit does not eliminate the renter of the duty to pay the last month's lease or for damage triggered to the premises. It needs to be returned to the renter upon leaving the facilities if no damage has actually been done beyond normal wear and tear and the lease is completely paid.
  
  If a proprietor fails to return the security deposit promptly, the tenant can sue to recover the part of the down payment to which the tenant is entitled. In some municipalities or counties and particular situations under state law, when a landlord wrongfully keeps an occupant's down payment the occupant may be able to recuperate extra damages and attorneys' fees. You need to talk to an attorney.
  
  Generally, a proprietor who gets a down payment might not keep any part of that deposit as payment for residential or commercial property damage unless he to the tenant, within thirty days of the date the occupant abandons, a statement of damage allegedly caused by the occupant and the approximated or actual expense of repairing or changing each product on that statement. If no such statement is furnished within 1 month, the landlord needs to return the security deposit completely within 45 days of the date the tenant vacated.
  
  If a structure includes 25 or more residential units, 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 largest bank in Illinois, as determined by overall properties, on a passbook security account.
  
  The above declarations concerning security deposits are based upon state law. However, some towns or counties might impose extra responsibilities. For example, Cook County, Evanston, Chicago, and Oak Park all have extra requirements that a landlord should abide by when taking security deposits and offer steep penalties when a proprietor 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 fee. Generally, there are no particular limitations on the amount of a move-in fee, however, certain municipalities or counties do offer constraints. TIP: A move-in cost must be nonrefundable, otherwise it could be deemed to be a down payment.
  
  Landlord and tenant matters can become complex. Both proprietor and tenant ought to consult an attorney for support with particular issues. For more info about your rights and responsibilities as a renter, including particular landlord-tenant laws in your municipality or county, call your regional bar association, or check out 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 ready and released by the Illinois State Bar Association as a civil service. Every effort has been made to provide precise information at the time of publication.