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  Your Guide to Landlord-Tenant Law
  
  Landlord-Tenant Law
  
  At some time during their lives the majority of people will be included with the leasing of genuine estate, either as landlord or occupant. Laws that affect proprietors and renters can differ significantly from city to city. This handout offers general info about being a tenant in Illinois. You must speak with a lawyer or your municipality or county as they might offer you with higher defense under the law.
  
  Tenancy Agreement
  
  The relationship between landlord and occupant emerges from an agreement, composed or oral, by which one party inhabits the genuine estate of another with the owner's permission in return for the payment of particular amount as lease.
  
  Written Agreement: Most occupancies are in writing and are called a lease. No specific words are needed to develop a lease, but normally the terms of a lease include a description of the genuine estate, the length of the agreement, the quantity of the rent, and the time of payment. TIP: You need to put your arrangement in composing to avoid future misunderstandings.
  
  Provisions in a lease agreement that safeguard a property manager from liability for damages to individuals or residential or commercial property brought on by the carelessness of the property owner are considered as being against public law and are for that reason unenforceable. Certain municipalities and counties have other restrictions and restriction on specific lease terms, so you ought to speak with 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 considered a month-to-month occupancy. The duration is generally determined by the frequency of the rental payments. For instance: week to week, month to month, or year to year. Although the terms of an oral lease may be hard to figure out, a party may be bound to the terms of an oral agreement 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 proper notification.
  
  - For year-to-year tenancies, besides a lease of farmland, either celebration might terminate the lease by giving 60 days of written notification at any time within the 4 months preceding the last 60 days of the lease.
• A week-to-week occupancy might be terminated by either celebration by offering 7 days of composed 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 should be offered at least four months before completion of the term.
• In all other lease agreements for a duration of less than one year, a party needs to give 1 month of composed notification. Any notification given must require termination on the last day of that rental period.
• The lease might likewise have actually stated requirements and timeframe for termination of the lease.
• In specific municipalities and counties, property managers are required to give more than the above mentioned notice period for termination. You ought to speak with an attorney 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 need notification of termination in a specific form or a higher notice duration than the minimum required by law, if any. Landlords ought to note that no matter what the lease needs or mentions, you may be needed to provide more than the notice period mentioned in the lease for termination and in composing. You must talk to an attorney or your town or county.
  
  Termination of a month-to-month tenancy generally only requires one month of notification by occupant and a proprietor is needed to serve a composed notice of termination of tenancy on the tenant (see Service as needed area listed below). In certain towns and counties, property owners are needed to offer more than one month of notice, so you need to speak with speak with a lawyer 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 property owner accepts lease following the expiration of the term, the lease term instantly becomes month-to-month based on the very same terms stated in the lease.
  
  The lease may require a particular notification and timeframe for renewing the lease. You ought to examine your lease to validate such requirements. Landlords and tenants should note that no matter what the lease requires or mentions, property owners may also have restrictions on how early they can require renewal of a lease by an occupant and are needed to put such in writing. You must seek advice from with a lawyer or your municipality or county.
  
  Month-to-month tenancies immediately restore from month to month until ended by either property owner or occupant.
  
  Unless there is a written lease, a proprietor can raise the lease by any amount by giving the renter notice: Seven days of notification for a week-to-week tenancy, 30 days of notification for a month-to-month tenancy, and 90 days of notice for mobile home parks. In particular municipalities and counties, proprietors are required to provide more than 7 or thirty days of notification of a rental increase, so you ought to seek advice from seek advice from an attorney or your municipality or county.
  
  Eviction, Termination of Tenants Right to Possession
  
  In Illinois, a property manager does not have a right to self-help and should file an expulsion to remove an occupant or resident from the facilities.
  
  Five-Day Notice. The most common breach of a lease is for non-payment of rent. In this case the property owner should serve a five-day notification upon the delinquent occupant unless the lease needs more than five days of notification. Five days after such notification is served, the property owner may commence expulsion proceedings versus the occupant. If, however, the tenant pays the total of lease demanded in the five-day notice within those 5 days, the property owner might not proceed with an expulsion. The property owner is not required, nevertheless, to accept rent that is less than the specific amount due. If the property manager accepts a tender of a lesser quantity of lease, it may impact the rights to proceed under the notification.
  
  10-Day Notice. If a property manager wants to end a lease due to the fact that of an offense of the lease arrangement by the tenant, besides for non-payment of rent, he or she must serve 10 days of composed notice upon the renter before expulsion procedures can start, unless the lease requires more than 10 days of notification. of rent after such notice is a waiver by the property manager of the right to terminate the lease unless the breach suffered is a continuing breach.
  
  Holdover. If a tenant remains beyond the lease expiration date, normally, a proprietor may submit an expulsion without needing to first serve a notice on the renter. However, the terms of the lease or in particular towns or counties, a proprietor is required to supply a notice of non-renewal to the occupant, so you need to consult with an attorney or your town or county.
  
  Service as needed Notice
  
  The five-day, 10-day, or termination of month-to-month occupancy notifications might be served upon occupant by providing a written or printed copy to the tenant, leaving the same with some person above the age of 13 years who lives at the celebration's home, or sending out a copy of the notification to the party by accredited or signed up mail with a return receipt from the addressee. If nobody is in the actual ownership of the properties, then publishing notice on the facilities is adequate.
  
  Subletting or Assigning the Lease
  
  Often, composed leases forbid the occupant from subletting the premises without the composed approval of the property manager. Such approval can not be unreasonably kept, but the prohibition is enforceable under the law. If there is no such restriction, then a renter may sublease or designate their lease to another. In such cases, however, the occupant will remain accountable to the property manager unless the property owner releases the initial occupant. A breach of the sublease will not alter the preliminary relationship between the landlord and occupant.
  
  Breach by Landlord, Tenant Remedies
  
  If the property manager has breached the lease by failing to satisfy their duties under the lease, specific treatments arise in favor of the occupant:
  
  - The occupant may take legal action against the property owner for damages sustained as a result of the breach.
• If a property manager fails to maintain a rented house in a livable condition, the occupant might have the ability to abandon the premises and terminate the lease under the theory of "positive expulsion."
• The failure of a landlord to keep a leased home in a habitable condition or comply significantly with regional housing codes might be a breach of the property manager's "implied service warranty of habitability" (independent of any written lease arrangements 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 decrease in the rental worth of the properties. However, breach by property owner does not instantly entitle a renter to keep lease or a reduction in the rental worth. The commitment to pay rent continues as long as the tenant stays in the leased premises and to assert this defense successfully, the tenant will need to reveal that their damages resulting from property manager's breach of this "implied guarantee" equivalent or go beyond the rent declared due.
  
  A property owner's breach and renter's damages might be hard to prove. Because of the restricted and technical nature of these rules, tenants need to be extremely cautious in keeping rent and ought to probably do so just after speaking with a lawyer.
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  Please note that particular municipalities or counties attend to specific commitments and requirements that the landlord should carry out. If a property manager fails to adhere to such responsibilities or requirements, the renter may have additional treatments for such failure. You ought to seek advice from an attorney or your town or county.
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  Breach by the Tenant, Landlord Remedies
  
  In addition to termination for particular breaches by tenant, a proprietor also has the following solutions:
  
  If lease is not paid, the property owner may: (1) sue for the lease due or to end up being due in the future and (2) terminate the lease and gather any previous lease due. Under specific scenarios in case of non-payment of lease the property owner might hold the furnishings and individual residential or commercial property of the occupant up until previous rent is paid by the tenant.
  
  If a renter stops working to abandon the rented premise at the end of the lease term, the occupant might end up being liable for double lease for the duration of holdover if the holdover is considered to be willful. The renter can also be forced out.
  
  If the tenant damages the facilities, the proprietor may demand the repair of such damages.
  
  Please note that certain towns or counties attend to particular commitments and requirements that the occupant should fulfill. If an occupant fails to adhere to such responsibilities or requirements, the property owner may have extra remedies for such failure. You should consult with an attorney or your town or county.
  
  Discrimination
  
  Under the federal Fair Housing Act and Illinois law, it is unlawful for a property manager to discriminate in the leasing of a dwelling home, flat, or apartment against potential occupants who have kids under the age of 14. It is also illegal for a property manager to discriminate versus a renter on the basis of race, religion, sex, national origin, income source, sexual origination, gender identity, or impairment.
  
  Security Deposits, Move-in Fee
  
  Security Deposit. An occupant can be needed to deposit with the property owner an amount of money prior to occupying the residential or commercial property. This is typically referred to 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 renter of the responsibility to pay the last month's rent or for damage triggered to the premises. It must be gone back to the renter upon vacating the facilities if no damage has actually been done beyond typical wear and tear and the rent is fully paid.
  
  If a proprietor fails to return the down payment immediately, the tenant can sue to recover the portion of the down payment to which the occupant is entitled. In some municipalities or counties and specific situations under state law, when a property owner wrongfully keeps an occupant's down payment the tenant may be able to recuperate extra damages and lawyers' fees. You must talk to a legal representative.
  
  Generally, a proprietor who gets a down payment may not keep any part of that deposit as settlement for residential or commercial property damage unless he provides to the renter, within thirty days of the date the occupant abandons, a statement of damage apparently triggered by the tenant and the approximated or actual cost of fixing or changing each product on that statement. If no such statement is provided within 30 days, the landlord must return the security deposit completely within 45 days of the date the occupant left.
  
  If a structure consists of 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 calculated at the rate paid by the largest bank in Illinois, as determined by overall assets, on a passbook security account.
  
  The above declarations relating to down payment are based upon state law. However, some towns or counties might enforce additional commitments. For example, Cook County, Evanston, Chicago, and Oak Park all have extra requirements that a proprietor should comply with when taking security deposits and supply high charges when a property owner stops working to comply.
  
  Move-in Fee. In addition to or as an alternative to a security deposit, a property manager might charge a move-in fee. Generally, there are no particular restrictions on the quantity of a move-in cost, however, certain municipalities or counties do provide restrictions. TIP: A move-in cost needs to be nonrefundable, otherwise it could be considered to be a security deposit.
  
  Landlord and renter matters can become complex. Both landlord and renter need to speak with a lawyer for support with specific issues. For more info about your rights and responsibilities as a renter, consisting of specific landlord-tenant laws in your town or county, contact your regional bar association, or go to 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 offer accurate information at the time of publication.