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  Your Guide to Landlord-Tenant Law
  hotcopper.com.au
  Landlord-Tenant Law
  
  At some point during their lives the majority of people will be involved with the rental of real estate, either as property manager or tenant. Laws that impact proprietors and renters can vary considerably from city to city. This pamphlet provides basic information about being a renter in Illinois. You ought to seek advice from a lawyer or your town or county as they might supply you with higher protection under the law.
  
  Tenancy Agreement
  
  The relationship in between proprietor and tenant emerges from a contract, composed or oral, by which one celebration inhabits the real estate of another with the owner's authorization in return for the payment of specific amount as lease.
  
  Written Agreement: Most tenancies remain in writing and are called a lease. No specific words are necessary to produce a lease, however usually the regards to a lease consist of a description of the property, the length of the agreement, the amount of the rent, and the time of payment. TIP: You must put your arrangement in writing to prevent future misunderstandings.
  
  Provisions in a lease agreement that secure a property owner from liability for damages to persons or residential or commercial property triggered by the carelessness of the property manager are considered as being versus public policy and are therefore unenforceable. Certain towns and counties have other restrictions and prohibition on particular lease terms, so you must speak with an attorney or your municipality or county.
  
  Oral Agreement: If an occupancy agreement is not in composing, 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 instance: week to week, month to month, or year to year. Although the regards to an oral lease might be tough to figure out, a celebration may be bound to the regards to an oral contract 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 terminated by either party with correct notice.
  
  - For year-to-year occupancies, other than a lease of farmland, either party may terminate the lease by giving 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 party by providing seven days of written notification to the other party.
• Farm leases usually run for one year. Customarily, they start and end in March of each year. Notice to end need to be provided at least 4 months before completion of the term.
• In all other lease arrangements for a duration of less than one year, a celebration must provide thirty days of written notification. Any notice offered must require termination on the last day of that rental period.
• The lease may also have actually mentioned requirements and timeframe for termination of the lease.
• In certain towns and counties, property managers are required to offer more than the above stated notice period for termination. You ought to speak with a lawyer or your town or county.
  
  If the lease does state a particular expiration or termination date, no termination notification is needed. Be aware that your lease might also need notification of termination in a specific kind or a greater notice duration than the minimum required by law, if any. Landlords ought to note that no matter what the lease requires or specifies, you might be required to offer more than the notice duration stated in the lease for termination and in composing. You need to speak with a lawyer or your town or county.
  
  Termination of a month-to-month occupancy normally just needs one month of notice by tenant and a property manager is required to serve a written notice of termination of tenancy on the tenant (see Service on Demand area below). In particular towns and counties, property owners are required to provide more than 30 days of notification, so you must consult with speak with an attorney or your municipality or county.
  
  Renewal of the Lease or Tenancy Agreement, Rental Increases
  
  Generally, a lease might be restored at any time by oral or written arrangement of the parties. If a lease term expires 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 may need a particular notice and timeframe for renewing the lease. You must evaluate your lease to confirm such requirements. Landlords and renters must keep in mind that no matter what the lease needs or states, proprietors may also have restrictions on how early they can need renewal of a lease by a renter and are needed to put such in writing. You must seek advice from an attorney or your town or county.
  
  Month-to-month tenancies immediately restore from month to month till ended by either landlord or tenant.
  
  Unless there is a composed lease, a landlord can raise the rent by any amount by providing the occupant notice: Seven days of notification for a week-to-week occupancy, 30 days of notification for a month-to-month occupancy, and 90 days of notification for mobile home parks. In specific towns and counties, proprietors are needed to give more than seven or one month of notification of a rental boost, so you must talk to seek advice from an attorney or your municipality 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 remove a tenant or resident from the facilities.
  
  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 delinquent tenant unless the lease needs more than 5 days of notice. Five days after such notification is served, the property manager may start expulsion procedures versus the occupant. If, however, the renter pays the total of rent demanded in the five-day notice within those five days, the property manager may not continue with an eviction. The proprietor is not required, nevertheless, to accept rent that is less than the precise quantity due. If the property owner a tender of a lower amount of lease, it might affect the rights to continue under the notice.
  
  10-Day Notice. If a landlord wishes to end a lease because of an infraction of the lease agreement by the tenant, aside from for non-payment of lease, she or he should serve 10 days of written notification upon the renter before expulsion procedures can start, unless the lease requires more than 10 days of notification. Acceptance of rent after such notification is a waiver by the proprietor of the right to terminate the lease unless the breach grumbled of is a continuing breach.
  
  Holdover. If a tenant remains beyond the lease expiration date, generally, a property manager may file an expulsion without having to very first serve a notice on the tenant. However, the regards to the lease or in specific towns or counties, a proprietor is required to offer a notification of non-renewal to the tenant, so you need to seek advice from a lawyer or your municipality or county.
  
  Service on Demand Notice
  
  The five-day, 10-day, or termination of month-to-month tenancy notices may be served upon tenant by providing a composed or printed copy to the tenant, leaving the very same with some individual above the age of 13 years who lives at the celebration's residence, or sending out a copy of the notice to the celebration by accredited or signed up mail with a return invoice from the addressee. If nobody is in the actual ownership of the premises, then publishing notification on the premises is sufficient.
  
  Subletting or Assigning the Lease
  
  Often, written leases forbid the occupant from subletting the premises without the written consent of the landlord. Such permission can not be unreasonably withheld, however the restriction is enforceable under the law. If there is no such restriction, then a tenant may sublease or appoint their lease to another. In such cases, nevertheless, the renter will remain responsible to the landlord unless the property owner launches the initial occupant. A breach of the sublease will not alter the initial relationship in between the landlord and renter.
  
  Breach by Landlord, Tenant Remedies
  
  If the property owner has breached the lease by failing to meet their duties under the lease, certain solutions emerge in favor of the renter:
  
  - The occupant might sue the landlord for damages sustained as an outcome of the breach.
• If a property manager stops working to maintain a rented house in a livable condition, the occupant might be able to leave the premises and end the lease under the theory of "positive expulsion."
• The failure of a property owner to preserve a leased house in a livable condition or comply considerably with regional housing codes might be a breach of the property manager's "suggested service warranty of habitability" (independent of any written lease arrangements or oral pledges), which the renter might assert as a defense to an expulsion based upon the non-payment of lease or a claim for decrease in the rental value of the facilities. However, breach by property manager does not instantly entitle a renter to keep lease or a decrease in the rental worth. The obligation to pay lease continues as long as the tenant remains in the rented properties and to assert this defense successfully, the occupant will need to show that their damages resulting from property manager's breach of this "implied service warranty" equivalent or go beyond the lease claimed due.
  
  A landlord's breach and tenant's damages may be hard to prove. Because of the restricted and technical nature of these rules, occupants should be extremely careful in withholding lease and needs to probably do so just after consulting an attorney.
  
  Please note that particular municipalities or counties offer particular responsibilities and requirements that the proprietor need to perform. If a property manager fails to adhere to such obligations or requirements, the renter might have additional remedies for such failure. You should seek advice from with a lawyer or your town or county.
  
  Breach by the Tenant, Landlord Remedies
  
  In addition to termination for specific breaches by occupant, a landlord likewise has the following solutions:
  
  If rent is not paid, the property manager might: (1) demand the rent due or to end up being due in the future and (2) end the lease and collect any past lease due. Under specific circumstances in the occasion of non-payment of lease the proprietor may hold the furnishings and personal residential or commercial property of the occupant until past rent is paid by the renter.
  
  If a tenant stops working to abandon the leased property at the end of the lease term, the tenant might end up being accountable for double rent for the period of holdover if the holdover is deemed to be willful. The tenant can likewise be evicted.
  
  If the tenant damages the properties, the landlord might sue for the repair of such damages.
  
  Please note that particular towns or counties attend to particular obligations and requirements that the tenant need to satisfy. If a tenant stops working to abide by such responsibilities or requirements, the proprietor might have extra remedies for such failure. You must seek advice from an attorney 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 residence home, flat, or house versus potential renters who have children under the age of 14. It is also unlawful for a property owner to discriminate against a renter on the basis of race, faith, sex, national origin, source of income, sexual origination, gender identity, or special needs.
  
  Security Deposits, Move-in Fee
  
  Security Deposit. A tenant can be needed to deposit with the proprietor a sum of money prior to inhabiting the residential or commercial property. This is usually described as a security deposit. This cash is considered to be security for any damage to the properties or non-payment of rent. The down payment does not eliminate the tenant of the responsibility to pay the last month's rent or for damage triggered to the facilities. It must be returned to the renter upon abandoning the facilities if no damage has actually been done beyond regular wear and tear and the lease is fully paid.
  
  If a property owner fails to return the down payment promptly, the renter can take legal action against to recover the part of the security deposit to which the renter is entitled. In some municipalities or counties and specific situations under state law, when a property manager wrongfully withholds an occupant's security deposit the tenant might be able to recover additional damages and attorneys' charges. You need to consult with an attorney.
  
  Generally, a property owner who gets a down payment may not withhold any part of that deposit as payment for residential or commercial property damage unless he provides to the renter, within 30 days of the date the tenant leaves, a declaration of damage apparently triggered by the renter and the approximated or real expense of repairing or changing each item on that statement. If no such statement is furnished within 1 month, the proprietor should return the security deposit in complete within 45 days of the date the renter abandoned.
  
  If a building includes 25 or more property units, the proprietor should 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 biggest bank in Illinois, as identified by total possessions, on a passbook security account.
  
  The above declarations concerning down payment are based upon state law. However, some towns or counties might enforce extra commitments. For example, Cook County, Evanston, Chicago, and Oak Park all have extra requirements that a proprietor must comply with when taking security deposits and supply steep charges when a proprietor fails to comply.
  
  Move-in Fee. In addition to or as an option to a security deposit, a property manager might charge a move-in charge. Generally, there are no particular restrictions on the amount of a move-in fee, nevertheless, particular towns or counties do supply limitations. TIP: A move-in cost ought to be nonrefundable, otherwise it could be deemed to be a security deposit.
  
  Landlord and occupant matters can become complex. Both property manager and tenant need to consult an attorney for help with particular issues. For more details about your rights and obligations as an occupant, including specific landlord-tenant laws in your municipality 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 pamphlet is prepared and published by the Illinois State Bar Association as a public service. Every effort has been made to provide accurate information at the time of publication.