Your Guide to Landlord-Tenant Law

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Your Guide to Landlord-Tenant Law
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Landlord-Tenant Law

Eventually during their lives many people will be involved with the leasing of real estate, either as property manager or tenant. Laws that impact proprietors and tenants can vary significantly from city to city. This pamphlet provides general information about being an occupant in Illinois. You need to speak with an attorney or your town or county as they may supply you with higher protection under the law.

Tenancy Agreement

The relationship in between landlord and tenant develops from a contract, written or oral, by which one party inhabits the realty of another with the owner's consent in return for the payment of particular amount as lease.

Written Agreement: Most occupancies remain in composing and are called a lease. No specific words are needed to develop a lease, but normally the terms of a lease consist of a description of the realty, the length of the contract, the quantity of the lease, and the time of payment. TIP: You should put your contract in writing to prevent future misunderstandings.

Provisions in a lease agreement that safeguard a property owner from liability for damages to persons or residential or commercial property caused by the neglect of the landlord are deemed being versus public policy and are for that reason unenforceable. Certain municipalities and counties have other constraints and prohibition on specific lease terms, so you should seek advice from a lawyer or your municipality or county.

Oral Agreement: If an occupancy arrangement is not in composing, the regard to the arrangement will, generally, be considered a month-to-month tenancy. The duration is usually determined by the frequency of the rental payments. For example: week to week, month to month, or year to year. Although the terms of an oral lease may be tough to identify, a celebration may be bound to the terms of an oral arrangement 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 celebration with proper notice.

- For year-to-year occupancies, other than a lease of farmland, either party may end the lease by providing 60 days of written notice at any time within the four months preceding the last 60 days of the lease.
A week-to-week tenancy might be terminated by either party by offering seven days of written notification to the other celebration.
Farm leases generally run for one year. Customarily, they start and end in March of each year. Notice to end must be offered at least 4 months before completion of the term.
In all other lease agreements for a duration of less than one year, a party must provide 30 days of written notice. Any notification provided ought to require termination on the last day of that rental period.
The lease may also have stated requirements and timeframe for termination of the lease.
In specific towns and counties, proprietors are required to offer more than the above specified notification period for termination. You must speak with an attorney or your municipality or county.

If the lease does specify a particular expiration or termination date, no termination notice is required. Understand that your lease may likewise require notification of termination in a particular type or a higher notification period than the minimum needed by law, if any. Landlords ought to note that no matter what the lease needs or states, you may be needed to provide more than the notice duration mentioned in the lease for termination and in composing. You ought to speak with an attorney or your town or county.

Termination of a month-to-month tenancy normally just requires thirty days of notice by occupant and a proprietor is needed to serve a written notification of termination of occupancy on the renter (see Service as needed section below). In particular municipalities and counties, landlords are required to provide more than 1 month of notice, so you must seek advice from seek advice from 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 contract of the parties. If a lease term ends and the property manager accepts rent following the expiration of the term, the lease term instantly becomes month-to-month based on the exact same terms stated in the lease.

The lease might require a particular notice and timeframe for restoring the lease. You need to review your lease to verify such requirements. Landlords and occupants ought to keep in mind that no matter what the lease needs or mentions, proprietors might likewise have constraints on how early they can need renewal of a lease by an occupant and are required to put such in writing. You need to seek advice from with an attorney or your municipality or county.

Month-to-month occupancies instantly restore from month to month until terminated by either property owner or occupant.

Unless there is a composed lease, a property owner can raise the rent by any quantity by offering the tenant notification: Seven days of notice for a week-to-week tenancy, 30 days of notice for a month-to-month tenancy, and 90 days of notice for mobile home parks. In particular towns and counties, property managers are needed to provide more than seven or thirty days of notice of a rental increase, so you should seek advice from consult with 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 must file an eviction to get rid of an occupant or resident from the properties.

Five-Day Notice. The most common breach of a lease is for non-payment of rent. In this case the property owner must serve a five-day notice upon the overdue renter unless the lease needs more than 5 days of notice. Five days after such notice is served, the property owner might start expulsion proceedings versus the renter. If, however, the tenant pays the complete amount of rent required in the five-day notice within those 5 days, the landlord may not proceed with an expulsion. The property owner is not needed, nevertheless, to accept rent that is less than the specific amount due. If the landlord accepts a tender of a lesser amount of lease, it may affect the rights to proceed under the notification.

10-Day Notice. If a property owner wishes to end a lease since of an infraction of the lease agreement by the renter, besides for non-payment of lease, she or he should serve 10 days of written notice upon the tenant before expulsion proceedings can begin, unless the lease needs more than 10 days of notification. Acceptance of lease after such notification is a waiver by the landlord of the right to terminate the lease unless the breach suffered is a continuing breach.

Holdover. If an occupant stays beyond the lease expiration date, normally, a proprietor might submit an eviction without needing to very first serve a notice on the renter. However, the terms of the lease or in certain municipalities or counties, a property manager is needed to supply a notice of non-renewal to the renter, so you should seek advice from with a lawyer or your town or county.

Service on Demand Notice

The five-day, 10-day, or termination of month-to-month tenancy notices may be served upon renter by providing a written 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 residence, or sending a copy of the notice to the celebration by licensed or registered mail with a return receipt from the addressee. If nobody is in the actual belongings of the properties, then posting notice on the premises is sufficient.

Subletting or Assigning the Lease

Often, written leases forbid the occupant from subletting the premises without the written permission of the proprietor. Such permission can not be unreasonably withheld, however the prohibition is enforceable under the law. If there is no such restriction, then a tenant may sublease or designate their lease to another. In such cases, however, the occupant will remain responsible to the landlord unless the property manager releases the initial tenant. A breach of the sublease will not change the initial relationship in between the property manager and renter.

Breach by Landlord, Tenant Remedies

If the proprietor has breached the lease by failing to fulfill their tasks under the lease, certain solutions emerge in favor of the renter:

- The occupant might take legal action against the property manager 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 renter might be able to leave the premises and terminate the lease under the theory of "useful eviction."
The failure of a property owner to maintain a leased home in a habitable condition or comply substantially with regional housing codes may be a breach of the landlord's "indicated service warranty of habitability" (independent of any written lease arrangements or oral pledges), which the tenant may assert as a defense to an eviction based upon the non-payment of lease or a claim for decrease in the rental worth of the facilities. However, breach by property manager does not instantly entitle a renter to keep rent or a reduction in the rental value. The responsibility to pay rent continues as long as the renter remains in the rented facilities and to assert this defense effectively, the renter will have to reveal that their damages resulting from property manager's breach of this "implied warranty" equivalent or surpass the lease claimed due.

A landlord's breach and renter's damages might be difficult to show. Because of the limited and technical nature of these rules, tenants must be exceptionally cautious in keeping lease and needs to probably do so only after consulting an attorney.

Please note that specific municipalities or counties offer particular commitments and requirements that the proprietor should carry out. If a property manager stops working to adhere to such commitments or requirements, the tenant might have extra solutions for such failure. You should talk to a lawyer or your municipality or county.

Breach by the Tenant, Landlord Remedies

In addition to termination for certain breaches by occupant, a landlord likewise has the following treatments:

If lease is not paid, the landlord might: (1) demand the rent due or to become due in the future and (2) end the lease and gather any previous rent due. Under certain circumstances in the occasion of non-payment of lease the property manager might hold the furniture and personal residential or commercial property of the renter up until past rent is paid by the renter.

If a renter stops working to abandon the leased facility at the end of the lease term, the renter might become responsible for double lease for the period of holdover if the holdover is deemed to be willful. The tenant can likewise be evicted.

If the renter harms the properties, the property manager may take legal action against for the repair work of such damages.

Please note that certain municipalities or counties provide for specific responsibilities and requirements that the occupant must satisfy. If a renter fails to abide by such responsibilities or requirements, the property owner might 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 illegal for a property manager to discriminate in the leasing of a home house, flat, or home versus prospective tenants who have children under the age of 14. It is also illegal for a property owner to victimize an occupant on the basis of race, faith, sex, nationwide origin, income, sexual origination, gender identity, or special needs.

Security Deposits, Move-in Fee

Security Deposit. A renter can be needed to deposit with the landlord a sum of money prior to inhabiting the residential or commercial property. This is typically referred to as a security deposit. This cash is deemed to be security for any damage to the facilities or non-payment of rent. The security deposit does not ease the occupant of the task to pay the last month's lease or for damage triggered to the premises. It should be gone back to the occupant upon vacating the properties if no damage has been done beyond normal wear and tear and the rent is completely paid.

If a property owner stops working to return the security deposit promptly, the renter can sue to recover the portion of the security deposit to which the tenant is entitled. In some municipalities or counties and particular situations under state law, when a landlord wrongfully keeps an occupant's security deposit the renter may have the ability to recover extra and attorneys' fees. You need to talk to an attorney.

Generally, a landlord who receives a down payment might not keep any part of that deposit as settlement for residential or commercial property damage unless he furnishes to the tenant, within one month of the date the renter leaves, a declaration of damage supposedly triggered by the renter and the approximated or real expense of fixing or replacing each item on that statement. If no such declaration is provided within one month, the property manager needs to return the security deposit in complete within 45 days of the date the renter abandoned.

If a building contains 25 or more property systems, the property manager must likewise pay interest on the deposit from the date it was paid, if held more than 67 months. Interest is calculated at the rate paid by the biggest bank in Illinois, as figured out by total possessions, on a passbook security account.

The above declarations relating to down payment are based on state law. However, some towns or counties may enforce extra obligations. For example, Cook County, Evanston, Chicago, and Oak Park all have additional requirements that a proprietor should abide by when taking down payment and supply steep penalties when a property manager stops working to comply.

Move-in Fee. In addition to or as an option to a security deposit, a proprietor might charge a move-in charge. Generally, there are no particular constraints on the quantity of a move-in charge, nevertheless, specific municipalities or counties do provide constraints. TIP: A move-in fee ought to be nonrefundable, otherwise it could be considered to be a down payment.

Landlord and tenant matters can become complex. Both property owner and tenant should consult an attorney for support with particular problems. To find out more about your rights and responsibilities as a renter, including specific landlord-tenant laws in your town or county, contact your regional 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 released by the Illinois State Bar Association as a public service. Every effort has actually been made to provide precise info at the time of publication.