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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 property, either as proprietor or tenant. Laws that affect property managers and renters can vary substantially from city to city. This handout supplies general info about being an occupant in Illinois. You must seek advice from a lawyer or your municipality or county as they might supply you with greater protection under the law.

Tenancy Agreement

The relationship in between landlord and renter develops from an agreement, composed or oral, by which one party occupies the property of another with the owner's approval in return for the payment of specific quantity as rent.

Written Agreement: Most tenancies remain in writing and are called a lease. No particular words are necessary to create a lease, but normally the regards to a lease include a description of the realty, the length of the arrangement, the amount of the lease, and the time of payment. TIP: You need to put your arrangement in writing to prevent future misconceptions.

Provisions in a lease contract that protect a property owner from liability for damages to individuals or residential or commercial property triggered by the negligence of the property manager are deemed being versus public policy and are therefore unenforceable. Certain towns and counties have other constraints and prohibition on specific lease terms, so you need to speak with an attorney or your municipality or county.

Oral Agreement: If an occupancy agreement is not in writing, the term of the arrangement will, typically, be considered a month-to-month tenancy. The period is normally identified by the frequency of the rental payments. For example: week to week, month to month, or year to year. Although the regards to an oral lease may be challenging 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 may be ended by either celebration with proper notice.

- For year-to-year occupancies, aside from a lease of farmland, either party may end the lease by offering 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 party by providing 7 days of composed notice to the other party.
- Farm leases typically run for one year. Customarily, they start and end in March of each year. Notice to end need to be offered a minimum of 4 months before the end of the term.
- In all other lease contracts for a period of less than one year, a celebration must offer one month of written notice. Any notice provided ought to call for termination on the last day of that rental duration.
- The lease might also have mentioned requirements and timeframe for termination of the lease.
- In certain municipalities and counties, proprietors are needed to give more than the above stated notification period for termination. You need to seek advice from a lawyer or your municipality or county.

If the lease does state a specific expiration or termination date, no termination notification is required. Know that your lease might likewise need notification of termination in a specific type or a higher notification duration than the minimum needed by law, if any. Landlords must keep in mind that no matter what the lease needs or specifies, you might be required to give more than the notice duration specified in the lease for termination and in composing. You must seek advice from an attorney or your town or county.

Termination of a month-to-month tenancy generally just requires 1 month of notice by occupant and a proprietor is required to serve a written notice of termination of occupancy on the occupant (see Service as needed section listed below). In specific towns and counties, proprietors are required to give more than thirty days of notice, so you ought to seek advice from 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 agreement of the parties. 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 set forth in the lease.

The lease may require a specific notification and timeframe for renewing the lease. You must examine your lease to validate such requirements. Landlords and occupants ought to note that no matter what the lease requires or states, property owners might likewise have limitations on how early they can require renewal of a lease by a renter and are needed to put such in writing. You need to seek advice from a lawyer or your town or county.

Month-to-month tenancies immediately restore from month to month until ended by either landlord or tenant.

Unless there is a composed lease, a proprietor can raise the lease by any amount by giving the occupant notification: Seven days of notification for a week-to-week occupancy, thirty days of notification for a month-to-month occupancy, and 90 days of notification for mobile home parks. In certain towns and counties, proprietors are needed to give more than 7 or thirty days of notification of a rental boost, so you need to speak with seek advice from a lawyer or your town or county.

Eviction, Termination of Tenants Right to Possession

In Illinois, a proprietor does not have a right to self-help and must submit 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 rent. In this case the property manager should serve a five-day notification upon the delinquent occupant unless the lease needs more than five days of notification. Five days after such notice is served, the property manager might start eviction proceedings versus the occupant. If, however, the tenant pays the total of lease required in the five-day notification within those five days, the landlord may not proceed with an expulsion. The property manager is not required, however, to accept rent that is less than the exact quantity due. If the property owner accepts a tender of a lower quantity of rent, it might affect the rights to proceed under the notice.

10-Day Notice. If a property manager wishes to end a lease since of an infraction of the lease arrangement by the renter, besides for non-payment of rent, he or she must serve 10 days of composed notification upon the occupant before eviction procedures can start, unless the lease requires more than 10 days of notice. Acceptance of lease after such notice is a waiver by the landlord of the right to end the lease unless the breach complained of is a continuing breach.

Holdover. If an occupant remains beyond the lease expiration date, normally, a landlord might submit an expulsion without having to first serve a notice on the tenant. However, the terms of the lease or in particular municipalities or counties, a property manager is needed to supply a notice of non-renewal to the tenant, 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 tenancy notices might be served upon tenant by delivering a composed or printed copy to the occupant, leaving the exact same with some individual above the age of 13 years who lives at the celebration's home, or sending out a copy of the notification to the celebration by certified or registered mail with a return invoice from the addressee. If nobody is in the real possession of the properties, then posting notification on the properties is adequate.

Subletting or Assigning the Lease

Often, composed leases prohibit the occupant from subletting the properties without the written consent of the proprietor. Such consent can not be unreasonably withheld, but the prohibition is enforceable under the law. If there is no such restriction, then a renter might sublease or appoint their lease to another. In such cases, nevertheless, the renter will remain responsible to the landlord unless the property manager releases the initial tenant. A breach of the sublease will not alter the preliminary relationship between the proprietor and renter.

Breach by Landlord, Tenant Remedies

If the landlord has actually breached the lease by stopping working to meet their duties under the lease, specific solutions emerge in favor of the occupant:

- The renter might take legal action against the property manager for damages sustained as a result of the breach.
- If a property manager fails to keep a leased residence in a livable condition, the tenant may have the ability to leave the facilities and terminate the lease under the theory of "useful expulsion."
- The failure of a proprietor to keep a rented home in a livable condition or comply considerably with regional housing codes may be a breach of the proprietor's "implied 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 value of the facilities. However, breach by landlord does not instantly entitle an occupant to withhold rent or a reduction in the rental worth. The obligation to pay rent continues as long as the tenant remains in the leased facilities and to assert this defense effectively, the renter will need to reveal that their damages resulting from landlord's breach of this "implied service warranty" equivalent or surpass the rent declared due.

A property manager's breach and occupant's damages might be difficult to prove. Because of the restricted and technical nature of these rules, renters should be incredibly careful in withholding rent and needs to probably do so just after seeking advice from an attorney.

Please note that certain municipalities or counties supply for particular commitments and requirements that the proprietor should carry out. If a property manager fails to abide by such obligations or requirements, the occupant may have additional remedies for such failure. You need to speak with an attorney or your municipality or county.

Breach by the Tenant, Landlord Remedies

In addition to termination for particular breaches by renter, a landlord likewise has the following solutions:

If lease is not paid, the property manager might: (1) take legal action against for the lease due or to become due in the future and (2) terminate the lease and collect any previous lease due. Under specific situations in case of non-payment of rent the property manager might hold the furniture and individual residential or commercial property of the occupant until previous rent is paid by the occupant.

If a renter stops working to leave the rented facility at the end of the lease term, the tenant might end up being responsible for double lease for the period of holdover if the holdover is considered to be willful. The tenant can also be evicted.

If the occupant harms the facilities, the property manager might take legal action against for the repair work of such damages.

Please note that particular towns or counties offer specific responsibilities and requirements that the occupant must satisfy. If a renter fails to adhere to such responsibilities or requirements, the proprietor may have additional treatments for such failure. You need to speak with a lawyer or your town or county.

Discrimination

Under the federal Fair Housing Act and Illinois law, it is unlawful for a proprietor to discriminate in the leasing of a home house, flat, or home against prospective tenants who have children under the age of 14. It is also illegal for a property manager to discriminate versus a tenant on the basis of race, religion, sex, nationwide origin, income source, sexual origination, gender identity, or special needs.

Security Deposits, Move-in Fee

Security Deposit. A renter can be required to deposit with the landlord an amount of money prior to occupying the residential or commercial property. This is generally referred to as a down payment. This money is considered to be security for any damage to the properties or non-payment of lease. The security deposit does not alleviate the occupant of the duty to pay the last month's rent or for damage triggered to the facilities. It must be returned to the occupant upon leaving the facilities if no damage has actually been done beyond typical wear and tear and the rent is fully paid.

If a property manager fails to return the down payment quickly, the occupant can take legal action against to recuperate the part of the security deposit to which the tenant is entitled. In some municipalities or counties and specific situations under state law, when a landlord wrongfully withholds a renter's down payment the occupant might be able to recover additional damages and lawyers' charges. You need to seek advice from a lawyer.

Generally, a proprietor who receives a security deposit might not withhold any part of that deposit as payment for residential or commercial property damage unless he provides to the tenant, within 30 days of the date the occupant leaves, a declaration of damage supposedly caused by the tenant and the estimated or real cost of fixing or replacing each product on that statement. If no such statement is provided within 1 month, the property manager must return the down payment in full within 45 days of the date the occupant abandoned.

If a structure consists of 25 or more residential units, the property manager must 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 determined by overall properties, on a passbook security account.

The above statements relating to security deposits are based upon state law. However, some municipalities or counties may impose extra obligations. For example, Cook County, Evanston, Chicago, and Oak Park all have additional requirements that a landlord must adhere to when taking down payment and offer steep penalties when a landlord 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 particular restrictions on the amount of a move-in charge, however, particular towns or counties do supply limitations. TIP: A move-in cost must be nonrefundable, otherwise it might be considered to be a down payment.

Landlord and renter matters can become complex. Both proprietor and occupant should consult an attorney for assistance with particular issues. For additional information about your rights and obligations as a renter, consisting of specific landlord-tenant laws in your municipality or county, call your local 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 prepared and published by the Illinois State Bar Association as a public service. Every effort has actually been made to supply precise information at the time of publication.