Renting in Illinois.

A landlord can't evict you themselves

This is the most important thing to know: in Illinois, only a court can order an eviction, and only the sheriff can carry it out. No matter what you owe or what the dispute is, your landlord cannot:

• Change the locks or lock you out.
• Shut off your utilities — heat, water, electric, gas.
• Remove your belongings or put them on the curb.

The eviction process, step by step

A legal eviction follows a set path, and each step is a chance to fix things or defend yourself:

• 1. Written notice first. The landlord must give you written notice stating the reason. The clock depends on why:
  • 5-day notice for unpaid rent — if you pay the full amount in those 5 days, the eviction stops.
  • 10-day notice for a lease violation.
  • 30-day notice to end a month-to-month lease (no reason required).
• 2. Court filing. If you don't move or fix it, the landlord files an eviction case in Circuit Court — it's a lawsuit, not an automatic removal.
• 3. You get a summons and a court date. Go to court. Showing up is everything — many tenants lose simply by not appearing.
• 4. The sheriff. Only if the landlord wins and gets an order for possession does the sheriff schedule the move-out. The landlord still can't do it themselves.

Start to finish, an Illinois eviction usually takes 3 to 8 weeks — longer if you show up and raise a defense.

Reasons a judge may stop an eviction

If you're taken to court, you can raise defenses, including:

• You paid the rent within the 5-day notice period.
• Retaliation — the landlord is evicting you because you complained to a city or health authority about conditions.
• Bad repairs / habitability — if the landlord ignored serious repair problems, you may have withheld a reasonable amount or used "repair and deduct."
• The landlord skipped a step — wrong notice, wrong timeline, or improper service can get a case dismissed.

Security deposits

• If your building has 5 or more units, the landlord must return your deposit within 30 days (no deductions) or 45 days with an itemized list of what was taken out.
• In buildings with 25+ units where the deposit is held 6 months or more, the landlord owes you interest.
• If they keep it unfairly, send a written demand letter and you can take them to small claims court — willful violations can cost the landlord double the deposit.

Illinois has no statewide rent control, so a landlord can raise rent on a new lease — but for month-to-month they generally owe you 30 days' written notice first.

Cook County's renter ordinance (RTLO)

If you rent in suburban Cook County — which covers most of our south-suburban communities — the Cook County Residential Tenant Landlord Ordinance (RTLO) gives you more than state law:

• 60-day notice before a landlord can decline to renew your lease.
• 10-day right to cure a lease violation before they can move forward.
• "Pay and stay" — even after an eviction is filed for unpaid rent, you can stop it one time by paying what's owed (plus certain costs) before judgment.
• 2 days' notice required before a landlord enters your unit.
• Strong anti-lockout rules covering almost every rental.

Two changes that help renters

• Minors can't be named in an eviction case. If a child is listed, the case can be dismissed and the record sealed.
• Every lease must now include a state "Summary of Rights for Safer Homes" as its first page — protections for tenants experiencing domestic or sexual violence.

Illinois also lets certain eviction records be sealed (under 735 ILCS 5/9-121), which matters because an eviction on your record can block your next apartment. Ask the court or a legal-aid lawyer whether your case qualifies.

Where to turn

You don't have to face this alone, and you don't need to pay a lawyer. Free help for renters in our area:

• Cook County Legal Aid for Housing & Debt — free help for Cook County residents facing eviction, debt, or behind on mortgage/property taxes. Cook County also has a right-to-counsel program.
• Legal Aid Chicago — free civil legal representation for Chicago and suburban Cook County.
• Illinois Legal Aid Online (illinoislegalaid.org) — free, plain-language guides and the court forms you'll need.
• Illinois Department of Human Rights — for housing discrimination: (312) 814-6200.

If you've already had an eviction or other record getting in your way, the Clearing Your Record module covers sealing and expungement.

Note: General educational information for 2026 under Illinois state law and the Cook County RTLO; rules vary by municipality and change, and federally subsidized housing has separate rules. This is not legal advice — for your specific situation, talk to a free legal-aid attorney before acting.