How to Evict a Tenant in Illinois: Laws, Process, and Timeline
Illinois Eviction Timeline 2026: Three Layers, Not One — State, Chicago, and Suburban Cook County
Illinois runs eviction on Article IX of the Code of Civil Procedure, 735 ILCS 5/9-101 et seq., statewide — the part once called forcible entry and detainer and rewritten in 2018 to speak of “eviction actions” and “eviction orders.” That’s only the floor. Chicago has its own ordinance, and the rest of Cook County has a separate one covering different ground. This page walks through the lawsuit itself: notice, filing, the hearing, the writ.
Grounds and Notice Periods — Statewide Floor
| Ground | Notice Period | Statute | Curable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-payment of rent | 5 days | 735 ILCS 5/9-209 | Yes — pay the full amount demanded within the window |
| Lease violation | 10 days | 735 ILCS 5/9-210 | No cure procedure in the state statute — 9-210 is a notice to quit. Except in Chicago and suburban Cook County. In Chicago — outside owner-occupied buildings of six units or fewer, which § 5-12-130(a) and (b) don’t reach (Mun. Code § 5-12-020(a)) — the notice must give at least 10 days after the tenant receives it, and a breach remedied within that period doesn’t end the lease (Mun. Code § 5-12-130(b)); a repeat disturbance of other residents within 60 days of that notice allows termination on 10 days’ notice with no cure (§ 5-12-130(d)). Inside the Cook County RTLO’s reach, the tenant gets the notice period to remedy the breach, and if the landlord doesn’t file an eviction action within 30 days after the notice or by the end of the next rental period, whichever is longer, the notice is deemed withdrawn and the rental agreement stays in force (Cook County Code Sec. 42-809(B)(1)) |
| No-cause, tenancy under a year (not week-to-week) | 30 days, except in Chicago, and in suburban Cook County when the tenancy is month-to-month (see below; Cook County Code Sec. 42-809(C)(2)(b)) | 735 ILCS 5/9-207(b) | N/A |
| No-cause, week-to-week | 7 days, except in Chicago (see below); suburban Cook County’s 60-day rule covers month-to-month tenancies and non-renewals, not week-to-week tenancies (Cook County Code Sec. 42-809(C)(2)(b)) | 735 ILCS 5/9-207(a) | N/A |
| Fixed-term lease expired | No notice to quit or demand required, except in Chicago and suburban Cook County, where a landlord who won’t renew must give the written notice below | 735 ILCS 5/9-213 | N/A |
Two statewide details catch landlords out. The 5-day notice has to carry the sentence set out in 9-209 — that only full payment of the rent demanded waives the right to terminate unless the landlord agrees in writing to take a partial payment — or accepting a partial payment can invalidate the notice. And when a foreclosure buyer or lender takes over a building, a bona fide lease can be ended only on at least 90 days’ written notice (735 ILCS 5/9-207.5).
Chicago replaces the 7- and 30-day no-cause notices with notice keyed to how long the tenancy has run. Under the Fair Notice provision of the RLTO (Mun. Code § 5-12-130(j)), a landlord ending a periodic tenancy or declining to renew a fixed-term lease must give written notice at least 30 days before the stated termination date for a tenancy of less than six months, at least 60 days for a tenancy of six months to three years, and at least 120 days for a tenancy of more than three years. If that notice isn’t given, the tenant may stay up to 60 days (120 days for a tenancy over three years) after written notice is actually given, on the same terms. The rule doesn’t apply where the landlord ended the lease for unpaid rent, a breach, or a repeat disturbance under § 5-12-130(a), (b) or (d), and it covers even owner-occupied buildings of six units or fewer that the rest of the RLTO excludes (§ 5-12-020(a)). In suburban Cook County under the RTLO, ending a month-to-month tenancy or not renewing a lease takes at least 60 days’ written notice, and without it the tenant may stay up to 120 days after the notice is given (Sec. 42-809(C)(2)(b)).
Chicago and Cook County Aren’t the Same Rulebook
The live page this replaces named “Cook County’s Residential Tenant Eviction Act” — that citation doesn’t match anything. The real county ordinance is the Residential Tenant and Landlord Ordinance (RTLO), Cook County Code ch. 42, art. IV, Secs. 42-801 to 42-816, in force since June 1, 2021. It covers rental housing across Cook County except in cities, villages, and towns whose own regulations set out both landlord and tenant rights, obligations, and remedies (Sec. 42-801(D)) — which is what Chicago’s RLTO, Municipal Code ch. 5-12, does. The RTLO also excludes owner-occupied buildings of six units or fewer and a single-family home or condo that is the owner’s only rental, which the owner lived in for at least a month in the prior year, manages personally, and doesn’t hold through a corporation.
Inside the RTLO’s reach, a tenant has a one-time “pay and stay” right (Sec. 42-805(F)): at any point before an eviction order issues, paying the unpaid rent plus the landlord’s filing and service costs — but not attorney fees — obliges the court to vacate any order and dismiss the case. Chicago tenants have their own one-time right under Mun. Code § 5-12-130(a): at any time before an order of possession or eviction order issues, paying the rent owed from the date of the termination notice to the date of payment, plus the filing fees and costs the landlord paid and the cost of service of process — not attorney’s fees — cures the nonpayment, and the case is dismissed on either side’s motion; if the landlord doesn’t provide a total amount due, the tenant owes only the rent due from the notice to the date of judgment. That right doesn’t reach owner-occupied buildings of six units or fewer, which the RLTO excludes except for its Fair Notice and lockout sections (Mun. Code § 5-12-020(a)). The RTLO’s anti-lockout rule (Sec. 42-813) bars changing or plugging locks, blocking entrances, removing doors or windows, interfering with electricity, gas, water, heat, phone or internet, and removing the tenant’s belongings; it reaches even most of the units the rest of the ordinance excludes, including small owner-occupied buildings. And a lease can’t sign away certain rights at all under Sec. 42-804(F) — waiving termination notices or court papers, waiving a jury trial, or making the tenant pay the landlord’s attorney fees beyond what a court rule, statute, or ordinance allows are all prohibited terms, and a landlord who knowingly uses them owes actual damages or two months’ rent, whichever is greater.
The Court Process
- File. Once notice has run, the landlord files an eviction complaint in the circuit court for the county where the property sits (735 ILCS 5/9-106).
- Serve. The summons sets a court date 7 to 40 days after it issues (Ill. S. Ct. Rule 101(b)(2)) and must be served no later than 3 days before that date (Rule 102(b)).
- First court date. The date written on the summons. If personal service fails, the landlord can switch to posting and mailing, but then the court can rule only on possession, not on a rent claim, until the tenant appears (735 ILCS 5/9-107).
- Trial. Either side can demand a jury in a residential case, and a jury waiver buried in the lease doesn’t stop that (735 ILCS 5/9-108).
- Judgment. A landlord who wins gets an eviction order, and a claim for rent joined in the complaint can be decided in the same case (735 ILCS 5/9-106, 9-209).
- Enforcement deadline. The eviction order can’t be enforced more than 120 days after entry unless the court extends it on the landlord’s motion, and the tenant can resist the extension by showing, for example, a post-judgment payment agreement they kept (735 ILCS 5/9-117).
- Sheriff eviction. The sheriff carries out the physical removal.
What This Costs
Confirm the current filing and service fees with the circuit court clerk in the county where the property sits before filing.
What a Landlord Cannot Do
Article IX opens by barring any entry that the law doesn’t allow, and even an allowed entry has to be peaceable, not forcible (735 ILCS 5/9-101). Chicago’s RLTO (Sec. 5-12-160) spells out the lockout ban and lets the tenant recover possession plus two months’ rent or twice actual damages, whichever is greater, on top of city fines of $200 to $500 for each day it continues; the Cook County RTLO’s Sec. 42-813 carries the same two-months-or-double-damages recovery plus attorney fees. Retaliation is now covered statewide by the Landlord Retaliation Act, 765 ILCS 721, which replaced the old Retaliatory Eviction Act from January 1, 2025: a landlord can’t end a tenancy, raise rent, cut services, or sue for possession because a tenant complained about code violations, asked for repairs, joined a tenant union, or used a legal right. Protected activity within one year before the landlord’s move creates a presumption of retaliation (721/20) — the same one-year window the RTLO uses in Sec. 42-812(C), so suburban Cook County no longer stands out on that point.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is “Cook County’s Residential Tenant Eviction Act” a real law? No — that name doesn’t match any actual Illinois or Cook County ordinance. The county-level protections come from the Residential Tenant and Landlord Ordinance (RTLO), which carves out municipalities whose own ordinance already sets landlord and tenant rights and remedies, the way Chicago’s RLTO does.
Does a tenant get more than one “pay and stay” chance in Cook County? No — Sec. 42-805(F) calls it a one-time right. Paying the back rent plus filing and service costs before an eviction order issues gets the case dismissed once; a later nonpayment case doesn’t get the same reset. Inside Chicago the right comes from Mun. Code § 5-12-130(a) instead, and it is also one-time; it doesn’t exist at all in owner-occupied buildings of six units or fewer, which § 5-12-020(a) removes from the RLTO apart from its Fair Notice and lockout sections.
Can an Illinois tenant demand a jury trial in an eviction case? Yes, statewide — not just in Chicago or Cook County. 735 ILCS 5/9-108 lets either party demand a jury in any case over residential premises, even if the lease says otherwise, and it can meaningfully extend a contested timeline.