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Your Guide to Landlord-Tenant Law

Landlord-Tenant Law

Eventually throughout their lives many people will be involved with the leasing of property, either as proprietor or tenant. Laws that impact proprietors and occupants can differ considerably from city to city. This handout offers general details about being a tenant in Illinois. You need to seek advice from an attorney or your town or county as they may supply you with higher defense under the law.

Tenancy Agreement

The relationship between property owner and tenant occurs from a contract, written or oral, by which one party occupies the property of another with the owner's permission in return for the payment of particular amount as rent.

Written Agreement: Most occupancies are in composing and are called a lease. No particular words are needed to develop a lease, however generally the terms of a lease consist of a description of the genuine estate, the length of the contract, the quantity of the rent, and the time of payment. TIP: You must put your contract in writing to prevent future misconceptions.

Provisions in a lease arrangement that protect a landlord from liability for damages to individuals or residential or commercial property caused by the neglect of the property owner are viewed as protesting public policy and are for that reason unenforceable. Certain towns and counties have other restrictions and prohibition on certain lease terms, so you need to talk to an attorney or your town or county.

Oral Agreement: If an occupancy arrangement is not in writing, the regard to the arrangement will, normally, be thought about a month-to-month tenancy. The period is normally determined 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 might be hard to figure out, a party may be bound to the regards to an oral arrangement just as much as a composed 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 proper notification.

- For year-to-year occupancies, besides a lease of farmland, either celebration may end the lease by providing 60 days of written 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 providing seven days of written notification to the other party.
- Farm leases normally run for one year. Customarily, they start and end in March of each year. Notice to terminate should be provided 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 party should provide one month of composed notice. Any notification offered need to require termination on the last day of that rental period.
- The lease may likewise have actually stated requirements and timeframe for termination of the lease.
- In certain municipalities and counties, proprietors are required to offer more than the above specified notification duration for termination. You need to talk to an attorney or your municipality or county.

If the lease does specify a particular expiration or termination date, no termination notice is needed. Know that your lease may also need notice of termination in a particular kind or a higher notification duration than the minimum required by law, if any. Landlords should keep in mind that no matter what the lease requires or states, you may be required to give more than the notification period stated in the lease for termination and in composing. You should talk to an attorney or your town or county.

Termination of a month-to-month occupancy generally just requires 30 days of notification by occupant and a property owner is required to serve a written notice of termination of occupancy on the occupant (see Service as needed area listed below). In particular towns and counties, proprietors are required to give more than one month of notice, so you should talk to seek advice from with an attorney 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 specific notification and timeframe for renewing the lease. You should examine your lease to confirm such requirements. Landlords and occupants need to keep in mind that no matter what the lease requires or states, proprietors may likewise have constraints on how early they can require renewal of a lease by a renter and are required to put such in writing. You must speak with a lawyer or your town or county.

Month-to-month occupancies instantly renew from month to month up until terminated by either proprietor or occupant.

Unless there is a written lease, a proprietor can raise the lease by any quantity by giving the tenant notification: Seven days of notice for a week-to-week occupancy, one month of notification for a month-to-month tenancy, and 90 days of notice for mobile home parks. In particular towns and counties, property owners are needed to provide more than 7 or 1 month of notice of a rental boost, so you need to talk to consult with a lawyer or your town or county.

Eviction, Termination of Tenants Right to Possession

In Illinois, a landlord does not have a right to self-help and should file an expulsion to eliminate an occupant or occupant from the properties.

Five-Day Notice. The most common breach of a lease is for non-payment of lease. In this case the property owner need to serve a five-day notification upon the overdue tenant unless the lease requires more than five days of notice. Five days after such notification is served, the landlord might commence expulsion proceedings against the occupant. If, nevertheless, the tenant pays the complete quantity of lease required in the five-day notice within those five days, the property owner may not proceed with an eviction. The property manager is not required, nevertheless, to accept rent that is less than the precise quantity due. If the landlord accepts a tender of a lesser quantity of rent, it may impact the rights to continue under the notice.

10-Day Notice. If a property manager wants to end a lease because of a violation of the lease arrangement by the renter, besides for non-payment of lease, she or he should serve 10 days of composed notice upon the renter before expulsion 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 terminate the lease unless the breach suffered is a continuing breach.

Holdover. If a tenant stays beyond the lease expiration date, usually, a property owner may submit an eviction without needing to very first serve a notification on the renter. However, the terms of the lease or in specific municipalities or counties, a property manager is needed to supply a notification of non-renewal to the tenant, so you ought to talk to a lawyer or your town or county.

Service as needed Notice

The five-day, 10-day, or termination of month-to-month occupancy notices may be served upon tenant by providing a written or printed copy to the tenant, leaving the same with some individual above the age of 13 years who lives at the party's home, or sending a copy of the notification to the party by accredited or registered mail with a return receipt from the addressee. If no one is in the actual possession of the premises, then posting notification on the facilities is enough.

Subletting or Assigning the Lease

Often, composed leases prohibit the occupant from subletting the properties without the written permission of the property manager. Such permission can not be unreasonably withheld, however the restriction is enforceable under the law. If there is no such restriction, then a renter might sublease or assign their lease to another. In such cases, however, the tenant will remain responsible to the property owner unless the property manager launches 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 landlord has actually breached the lease by stopping working to fulfill their responsibilities under the lease, certain treatments emerge in favor of the occupant:

- The occupant might take legal action against the property manager for damages sustained as an outcome of the breach.
- If a landlord stops working to keep a rented house in a habitable condition, the tenant might have the ability to leave the facilities and terminate the lease under the theory of "positive expulsion."
- The failure of a property owner to maintain a leased house in a habitable condition or comply significantly with local housing codes may be a breach of the property owner's "suggested guarantee of habitability" (independent of any composed lease arrangements or oral promises), which the tenant may assert as a defense to an eviction based on the non-payment of rent or a claim for decrease in the rental value of the properties. However, breach by proprietor does not automatically entitle a renter to withhold lease or a decrease in the rental worth. The obligation to pay rent continues as long as the renter remains in the rented facilities and to assert this defense effectively, the tenant will need to reveal that their damages arising from landlord's breach of this "implied guarantee" equivalent or go beyond the lease declared due.

A proprietor's breach and occupant's damages may be difficult to prove. Because of the limited and technical nature of these guidelines, occupants must be extremely cautious in keeping lease and ought to most likely do so just after consulting a lawyer.

Please note that particular municipalities or counties attend to certain responsibilities and requirements that the property owner must carry out. If a property manager stops working to abide by such responsibilities or requirements, the renter might have additional treatments for such failure. You need to seek advice from a lawyer or your municipality or county.

Breach by the Tenant, Landlord Remedies

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

If rent is not paid, the proprietor may: (1) demand the lease due or to become due in the future and (2) end the lease and gather any previous rent due. Under specific circumstances in case of non-payment of lease the property owner might hold the furnishings and individual residential or commercial property of the renter till previous lease is paid by the occupant.

If an occupant fails to vacate the leased property at the end of the lease term, the occupant may end up being accountable 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 tenant harms the premises, the property manager may take legal action against for the repair of such damages.

Please note that certain municipalities or counties supply for certain obligations and requirements that the renter should satisfy. If a tenant stops working to abide by such obligations or requirements, the proprietor might have additional solutions for such failure. You should seek advice from an attorney or your town or county.

Discrimination

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

Down Payment, Move-in Fee

Security Deposit. A tenant can be required to deposit with the landlord an amount of cash prior to occupying the residential or commercial property. This is usually referred to as a down payment. This cash is deemed to be security for any damage to the facilities or non-payment of rent. The down payment does not eliminate the occupant of the responsibility to pay the last month's rent or for damage caused to the properties. It should be returned to the occupant upon vacating the premises if no damage has been done beyond typical wear and tear and the rent is completely paid.

If a property manager stops working to return the down payment quickly, the renter can sue to recuperate the part of the security deposit to which the occupant is entitled. In some towns or counties and specific situations under state law, when a property owner wrongfully keeps a tenant's down payment the tenant may be able to recuperate extra damages and attorneys' charges. You should consult with a legal representative.

Generally, a proprietor who gets a security deposit may not withhold any part of that deposit as settlement for residential or commercial property damage unless he furnishes to the tenant, within thirty days of the date the renter abandons, a statement of damage presumably brought on by the tenant and the approximated or real cost of fixing or replacing each item on that declaration. If no such statement is provided within one month, the property manager must return the down payment in full within 45 days of the date the renter vacated.

If a structure includes 25 or more property 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 determined at the rate paid by the largest bank in Illinois, as figured out by overall possessions, on a passbook security account.

The above declarations concerning down payment are based on state law. However, some municipalities or counties might impose additional commitments. For instance, Cook County, Evanston, Chicago, and Oak Park all have additional requirements that a proprietor should abide by when taking security deposits and provide high penalties when a proprietor fails to comply.

Move-in Fee. In addition to or as an option to a security deposit, a proprietor may charge a move-in fee. Generally, there are no particular restrictions on the amount of a move-in charge, nevertheless, certain municipalities or counties do offer restrictions. TIP: A move-in cost should be nonrefundable, otherwise it might be considered to be a down payment.

Landlord and renter matters can end up being complex. Both property owner and tenant should seek advice from an attorney for support with specific problems. For more details about your rights and duties as a tenant, consisting of specific landlord-tenant laws in your town or county, contact 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 been made to supply precise details at the time of publication.