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Your Guide to Landlord-Tenant Law

Landlord-Tenant Law

Eventually during their lives many people will be included with the leasing of property, either as landlord or tenant. Laws that impact property owners and tenants can differ considerably from city to city. This handout supplies general information about being an occupant in Illinois. You must speak with a lawyer or your town or county as they might offer you with greater protection under the law.

Tenancy Agreement

The relationship in between proprietor and tenant arises from an agreement, written or oral, by which one party occupies the realty of another with the owner's approval in return for the payment of certain amount as lease.

Written Agreement: Most tenancies remain in composing and are called a lease. No particular words are required to create a lease, however normally the regards to a lease consist of a description of the real estate, the length of the arrangement, the amount of the rent, and the time of payment. TIP: You need to put your contract in writing to avoid future misconceptions.

Provisions in a lease agreement that secure a property manager from liability for damages to persons or residential or commercial property brought on by the carelessness of the property manager are viewed as being versus public policy and are therefore unenforceable. Certain towns and counties have other constraints and restriction on particular lease terms, so you need to consult with an attorney or your town or county.

Oral Agreement: If a tenancy contract is not in composing, the term of the arrangement will, generally, be considered a month-to-month occupancy. The duration is usually 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 might be challenging to determine, a party may be bound to the terms of an oral agreement just as much as a written one.

Termination of the Lease or Tenancy Agreement

If a lease is not for a specific term, it might be ended by either celebration with proper notice.

- For year-to-year tenancies, other than a lease of farmland, either party may terminate the lease by providing 60 days of composed notification at any time within the four months preceding the last 60 days of the lease.
A week-to-week occupancy may be ended by either celebration by giving 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 end need to be offered at least four months before the end of the term.
In all other lease agreements for a period of less than one year, a celebration needs to give one month of written notification. Any notification given ought to call for termination on the last day of that rental period.
The lease may also have actually specified requirements and timeframe for termination of the lease.
In specific towns and counties, property managers are needed to provide more than the above mentioned notice duration for termination. You must consult with a lawyer or your town or county.

If the lease does state a specific expiration or termination date, no termination notification is needed. Understand that your lease may likewise need notice of termination in a specific form or a higher notification duration than the minimum required by law, if any. Landlords must keep in mind that no matter what the lease requires or mentions, you may be required to provide more than the notice duration specified in the lease for termination and in composing. You ought to talk to a lawyer or your town or county.

Termination of a month-to-month occupancy generally just needs thirty days of notice by occupant and a property manager is required to serve a composed notice of termination of occupancy on the tenant (see Service as needed section below). In certain municipalities and counties, property managers are required to provide more than thirty days of notification, so you need to seek advice from talk to a lawyer or your municipality or county.
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Renewal of the Lease or Tenancy Agreement, Rental Increases

Generally, a lease might be renewed at any time by oral or written agreement of the parties. If a lease term expires and the property owner accepts rent following the expiration of the term, the lease term instantly becomes month-to-month based upon the exact same terms stated in the lease.

The lease might require a specific notice and timeframe for restoring the lease. You must review your lease to verify such requirements. Landlords and tenants ought to note that no matter what the lease needs or mentions, proprietors might also have constraints on how early they can require renewal of a lease by a renter and are required to put such in writing. You should seek advice from an attorney or your municipality or county.

Month-to-month tenancies instantly renew from month to month up until terminated by either proprietor or tenant.

Unless there is a composed lease, a proprietor can raise the lease by any amount by offering the tenant notice: Seven days of notification for a week-to-week tenancy, 1 month of notice for a month-to-month occupancy, and 90 days of notice for mobile home parks. In specific municipalities and counties, property managers are needed to provide more than 7 or 1 month of notice of a rental boost, so you need to consult with seek advice from with 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 need to file an expulsion to eliminate an occupant or occupant from the premises.

Five-Day Notice. The most typical breach of a lease is for non-payment of lease. In this case the landlord must serve a five-day notification upon the delinquent occupant unless the lease requires more than 5 days of notice. Five days after such notice is served, the proprietor may begin eviction proceedings versus the tenant. If, nevertheless, the renter pays the total of lease required in the five-day notice within those 5 days, the property owner may not proceed with an eviction. The property owner is not required, nevertheless, to accept rent that is less than the specific amount due. If the property owner accepts a tender of a lower quantity of rent, it might affect the rights to continue under the notice.

10-Day Notice. If a landlord wants to terminate a lease because of an offense of the lease arrangement by the tenant, aside from for non-payment of lease, he or she should serve 10 days of written notification upon the renter before eviction procedures can start, unless the lease requires more than 10 days of notification. Acceptance of lease after such notification is a waiver by the property manager of the right to end the lease unless the breach suffered is a continuing breach.

Holdover. If a renter stays beyond the lease expiration date, typically, a property manager might submit an expulsion without having to very first serve a notification on the occupant. However, the terms of the lease or in certain towns or counties, a proprietor is needed to supply a notice of non-renewal to the tenant, so you need to talk to an attorney or your municipality or county.

Service on Demand Notice

The five-day, 10-day, or termination of month-to-month tenancy notifications may be served upon tenant by providing a written or printed copy to the renter, leaving the same with some person above the age of 13 years who lives at the party's house, or sending out a copy of the notice to the party by accredited or registered mail with a return invoice from the addressee. If nobody is in the actual possession of the premises, then publishing notice on the properties suffices.

Subletting or Assigning the Lease

Often, written leases restrict the renter from subletting the properties without the composed consent of the proprietor. Such approval can not be unreasonably withheld, however the prohibition is enforceable under the law. If there is no such prohibition, then a tenant may sublease or designate their lease to another. In such cases, however, the tenant will remain accountable to the landlord unless the property manager releases the original renter. A breach of the sublease will not change the preliminary relationship in between the proprietor and renter.

Breach by Landlord, Tenant Remedies

If the proprietor has actually breached the lease by failing to satisfy their duties under the lease, specific treatments emerge in favor of the occupant:

- The renter may sue the landlord for damages sustained as a result of the breach.
If a property manager fails to keep a rented residence in a habitable condition, the tenant might have the ability to vacate the properties and terminate the lease under the theory of "useful expulsion."
The failure of a property manager to preserve a rented residence in a habitable condition or comply substantially with regional housing codes might be a breach of the property manager's "suggested warranty of habitability" (independent of any composed lease arrangements or oral promises), which the renter might assert as a defense to an eviction based on the non-payment of lease or a claim for reduction in the rental value of the facilities. However, breach by property manager does not instantly entitle a renter to withhold rent or a reduction in the rental worth. The obligation to pay lease continues as long as the renter stays in the leased premises and to assert this defense successfully, the occupant will have to show that their damages resulting from landlord's breach of this "implied service warranty" equivalent or go beyond the rent declared due.

A property manager's breach and tenant's damages might be difficult to show. Because of the restricted and technical nature of these guidelines, occupants ought to be exceptionally cautious in withholding rent and should probably do so just after seeking advice from a lawyer.

Please note that specific municipalities or counties offer for certain commitments and requirements that the property manager need to perform. If a property manager stops working to comply with such commitments or requirements, the tenant might have additional remedies for such failure. You must seek advice from an attorney or your town or county.

Breach by the Tenant, Landlord Remedies

In addition to termination for specific breaches by tenant, a property manager also has the following solutions:

If rent is not paid, the proprietor may: (1) take legal action against 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 of rent the property owner may hold the furnishings and personal residential or commercial property of the tenant up until previous rent is paid by the tenant.

If an occupant fails to vacate the leased facility at the end of the lease term, the tenant might become liable for double lease for the duration of holdover if the holdover is considered to be willful. The occupant can also be kicked out.

If the occupant damages the premises, the property manager may demand the repair of such damages.

Please note that certain towns or counties supply for certain commitments and requirements that the renter must meet. If an occupant stops working to adhere to such commitments or requirements, the proprietor may have additional treatments for such failure. You must seek advice from a lawyer or your municipality 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 house, flat, or apartment versus prospective tenants who have children under the age of 14. It is likewise unlawful for a landlord to victimize a tenant on the basis of race, faith, sex, national origin, source of income, sexual origination, gender identity, or impairment.

Down Payment, Move-in Fee

Security Deposit. An occupant can be required to deposit with the landlord a sum of money prior to inhabiting the residential or commercial property. This is generally described as a security deposit. This cash is deemed to be security for any damage to the premises or non-payment of lease. The down payment does not relieve the renter of the duty to pay the last month's rent or for damage caused to the facilities. It should be returned to the occupant upon leaving the properties if no damage has actually been done beyond regular wear and tear and the lease is fully paid.

If a property manager fails to return the security deposit quickly, the renter can take legal action against to recuperate the portion of the security deposit to which the occupant is entitled. In some municipalities or counties and specific scenarios under state law, when a proprietor wrongfully keeps an occupant's security deposit the occupant may be able to recover extra damages and lawyers' charges. You must consult with a legal representative.

Generally, a property owner who receives a down payment may not withhold any part of that deposit as payment for residential or commercial property damage unless he provides to the tenant, within 1 month of the date the tenant abandons, a statement of damage apparently triggered by the renter and the estimated or real expense of fixing or replacing each product on that declaration. If no such declaration is provided within 1 month, the property manager needs to return the security deposit completely within 45 days of the date the occupant left.

If a building contains 25 or more domestic systems, the property manager 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 biggest bank in Illinois, as figured out by overall possessions, on a passbook security account.

The above declarations relating to down payment are based upon state law. However, some municipalities or counties may impose extra commitments. For example, Cook County, Evanston, Chicago, and Oak Park all have additional requirements that a property manager must adhere to when taking security deposits and supply steep charges when a proprietor fails to comply.

Move-in Fee. In addition to or as an alternative to a down payment, a landlord may charge a move-in fee. Generally, there are no specific constraints on the amount of a move-in charge, nevertheless, specific municipalities or counties do offer constraints. TIP: A move-in fee must be nonrefundable, otherwise it might be considered to be a down payment.

Landlord and occupant matters can become complex. Both landlord and occupant should speak with a lawyer for support with particular problems. To learn more about your rights and responsibilities as a tenant, including specific landlord-tenant laws in your town 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
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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 supply precise info at the time of publication.