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  Your Guide to Landlord-Tenant Law
  
  Landlord-Tenant Law
  
  At some point during their lives the majority of people will be involved with the leasing of genuine estate, either as property manager or tenant. Laws that affect property managers and renters can differ considerably from city to city. This handout supplies general information about being a tenant in Illinois. You ought to seek advice from an attorney or your town or county as they may provide you with greater protection under the law.
  
  Tenancy Agreement
  
  The relationship in between property owner and occupant occurs from a contract, composed or oral, by which one celebration inhabits the property of another with the owner's consent in return for the payment of particular quantity as rent.
  
  Written Agreement: Most occupancies remain in composing and are called a lease. No particular words are required to produce a lease, but normally the regards to a lease consist of a description of the realty, the length of the arrangement, the quantity of the rent, and the time of payment. TIP: You should put your arrangement in writing to prevent future misunderstandings.
  
  Provisions in a lease agreement that secure a property manager from liability for damages to persons or residential or commercial property caused by the negligence of the property manager are viewed as being versus public policy and are therefore unenforceable. Certain towns and counties have other restrictions and prohibition on certain lease terms, so you should speak with an attorney or your town or county.
  
  Oral Agreement: If an occupancy agreement is not in composing, the regard to the agreement will, typically, be thought about a month-to-month tenancy. The duration is typically figured out 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 might be hard to determine, a party may 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 party with proper notification.
  
  - For year-to-year tenancies, aside from a lease of farmland, either party may end the lease by offering 60 days of composed notification 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 giving seven days of written notification to the other party.
• Farm leases typically run for one year. Customarily, they start and end in March of each year. Notice to end should be provided 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 offer 1 month of composed notice. Any notification provided must require termination on the last day of that rental duration.
• The lease might also have actually mentioned requirements and timeframe for termination of the lease.
• In particular towns and counties, property managers are required to provide more than the above specified notice duration for termination. You must speak with a lawyer or your town or county.
  
  If the lease does state a specific expiration or termination date, no termination notification is essential. Be aware that your lease might also require notice of termination in a particular kind or a higher notice period than the minimum required by law, if any. Landlords need to keep in mind that no matter what the lease requires or mentions, you might be required to provide more than the notice duration mentioned in the lease for termination and in composing. You ought to consult with an attorney or your municipality or county.
  
  Termination of a month-to-month tenancy usually just needs one month of notice by tenant and a proprietor is needed to serve a composed notice of termination of tenancy on the renter (see Service as needed section listed below). In certain towns and counties, proprietors are needed to offer more than 30 days of notice, so you must speak with consult with a lawyer or your town or county.
  
  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 celebrations. If a lease term ends and the proprietor accepts lease following the expiration of the term, the lease term immediately becomes month-to-month based on the very same terms set forth in the lease.
  
  The lease might need a particular notice and timeframe for restoring the lease. You need to evaluate your lease to validate such requirements. Landlords and tenants need to note that no matter what the lease requires or mentions, proprietors may also have limitations on how early they can need renewal of a lease by a renter and are required to put such in composing. You ought to speak with a lawyer or your town or county.
  
  Month-to-month occupancies instantly renew from month to month till terminated by either landlord or renter.
  
  Unless there is a composed lease, a property manager can raise the rent by any quantity by giving the occupant notification: Seven days of notification for a week-to-week occupancy, 1 month of notification for a month-to-month tenancy, and 90 days of notification for mobile home parks. In certain municipalities and counties, proprietors are required to give more than seven or 1 month of notification of a rental boost, so you should speak with seek advice from a lawyer or your town 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 remove an occupant 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 tenant unless the lease requires more than 5 days of notification. Five days after such notice is served, the property manager might start expulsion procedures versus the renter. If, however, the renter pays the total of rent demanded in the five-day notification within those five days, the property owner might not continue with an expulsion. The property manager is not required, however, to accept lease that is less than the precise quantity due. If the property manager accepts a tender of a lesser quantity of lease, it might affect the rights to proceed under the notice.
  
  10-Day Notice. If a property owner wishes to terminate a lease due to the fact that of an infraction of the lease contract by the renter, besides for non-payment of rent, she or he need to serve 10 days of composed notice upon the tenant before eviction proceedings can begin, unless the lease needs more than 10 days of notification. Acceptance of lease after such notice is a waiver by the proprietor of the right to end the lease unless the breach complained of is a continuing breach.
  
  Holdover. If a tenant stays beyond the lease expiration date, generally, a property manager might file an expulsion without having to first serve a notification on the tenant. However, the regards to the lease or in particular municipalities or counties, a proprietor is needed to supply a notification of non-renewal to the tenant, so you must seek advice from with a lawyer or your municipality or county.
  
  Service on Demand Notice
  
  The five-day, 10-day, or termination of month-to-month tenancy notifications might be served upon tenant by delivering a written or printed copy to the occupant, leaving the exact same with some person above the age of 13 years who lives at the celebration's home, or sending a copy of the notification to the celebration by licensed or signed up mail with a return invoice from the addressee. If no one remains in the real ownership of the properties, then posting notification on the facilities suffices.
  
  Subletting or Assigning the Lease
  
  Often, written leases prohibit the renter from subletting the premises without the composed authorization of the property manager. Such authorization can not be unreasonably withheld, but the prohibition 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 stay accountable to the proprietor unless the property manager releases the original occupant. A breach of the sublease will not change the initial relationship in between the property owner and renter.
  
  Breach by Landlord, Tenant Remedies
  
  If the property owner has breached the lease by failing to satisfy their tasks under the lease, certain treatments emerge in favor of the occupant:
  
  - The renter might sue the proprietor for damages sustained as a result of the breach.
• If a property owner stops working to maintain a rented home in a livable condition, the occupant might be able to leave the facilities and terminate the lease under the theory of "constructive expulsion."
• The failure of a property owner to keep a leased house in a livable condition or comply considerably with regional housing codes may be a breach of the landlord's "implied warranty of habitability" (independent of any composed lease provisions or oral guarantees), which the occupant might assert as a defense to an eviction based upon the non-payment of rent or a claim for reduction in the rental worth of the premises. However, breach by property owner 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 tenant stays in the rented facilities 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" equal or exceed the rent declared due.
  
  A property manager's breach and occupant's damages might be tough to prove. Because of the limited and technical nature of these rules, renters should be exceptionally cautious in keeping lease and needs to probably do so only after consulting an attorney.
  
  Please note that specific towns or counties attend to particular commitments and requirements that the property manager should perform. If a landlord stops working to abide by such commitments or requirements, the renter may have extra treatments for such failure. You should speak with a lawyer or your town or county.
  
  Breach by the Tenant, Landlord Remedies
  
  In addition to termination for particular breaches by occupant, a property owner likewise has the following remedies:
  
  If lease is not paid, the property owner may: (1) sue for the rent due or to become due in the future and (2) end the lease and collect any past lease due. Under specific circumstances in case of non-payment of lease the proprietor might hold the furnishings and individual residential or commercial property of the tenant till past rent is paid by the occupant.
  
  If an occupant fails to abandon the leased facility at the end of the lease term, the occupant might end up being accountable for double lease for the duration of holdover if the holdover is deemed to be willful. The renter can likewise be kicked out.
  
  If the renter damages the facilities, the property manager may sue for the repair of such damages.
  
  Please note that certain towns or counties supply for certain responsibilities and requirements that the occupant should meet. If an occupant stops working to abide by such obligations or requirements, the property manager might have additional treatments for such failure. You should 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 proprietor to discriminate in the leasing of a dwelling house, flat, or apartment versus potential occupants who have children under the age of 14. It is also illegal for a property manager to discriminate versus an occupant on the basis of race, religious beliefs, sex, national origin, income, sexual origination, gender identity, or disability.
  
  Security Deposits, Move-in Fee
  
  Down payment. A tenant can be required to deposit with the property owner a sum of cash prior to inhabiting the residential or commercial property. This is typically referred to as a down payment. This money is deemed to be security for any damage to the properties or non-payment of lease. The security deposit does not the tenant of the task to pay the last month's lease or for damage caused to the premises. It needs to be gone back to the renter upon abandoning the facilities if no damage has actually been done beyond regular wear and tear and the rent is fully paid.
  
  If a landlord stops working to return the security deposit without delay, the tenant can sue to recover the portion of the down payment to which the occupant is entitled. In some municipalities or counties and particular circumstances under state law, when a property manager wrongfully keeps a renter's security deposit the occupant might be able to recuperate extra damages and attorneys' costs. You need to talk to an attorney.
  
  Generally, a property owner who receives a down payment might not withhold any part of that deposit as payment for residential or commercial property damage unless he provides to the occupant, within 1 month of the date the tenant vacates, a statement of damage supposedly brought on by the renter and the approximated or real expense of fixing or replacing each item on that declaration. If no such statement is provided within 30 days, the property owner must return the security deposit completely within 45 days of the date the tenant abandoned.
  
  If a structure contains 25 or more domestic systems, the landlord must 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 identified by total properties, on a passbook security account.
  
  The above declarations regarding down payment are based on state law. However, some municipalities or counties may enforce extra obligations. For instance, Cook County, Evanston, Chicago, and Oak Park all have additional requirements that a proprietor should adhere to when taking down payment and provide high charges when a proprietor fails to comply.
  
  Move-in Fee. In addition to or as an alternative to a down payment, a property manager may charge a move-in cost. Generally, there are no specific limitations on the quantity of a move-in charge, nevertheless, particular municipalities or counties do supply constraints. TIP: A move-in charge ought to be nonrefundable, otherwise it might be deemed to be a security deposit.
  
  Landlord and tenant matters can end up being complex. Both landlord and renter ought to consult an attorney for help with particular issues. To learn more about your rights and responsibilities as an occupant, consisting of particular landlord-tenant laws in your town or county, contact your local 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 handout is prepared and published by the Illinois State Bar Association as a public service. Every effort has actually been made to provide accurate information at the time of publication.