This Guide will help you understand what steps your landlord must take to evict you by:Answering questions about what happens in an eviction case in the "Common Questions" section;Giving you more information about going to court in the "Related Articles" section;Helping you find a lawyer, if you need one, in the "Find Legal Help" section.Click on words that appear like 'this' to learn what these words mean.What reasons can my landlord use to evict me? Your landlord can evict you in the following cases:If you do not pay the rent when it is due;If you break any of the terms and conditions of the lease agreement;If you damage the rented property;If the lease comes to an end and you do not leave the rented property; orIf the lease is an oral or written month-to-month lease, the landlord can evict you for no reason if you are given a full months notice.Are there some situations in which my landlord should not be allowed to evict me? Yes. The law protects tenants from eviction if: Your landlord wants to evict you because you complained to a government authority (like a building inspector) about conditions in your home. This is called retaliatory eviction. Your landlord is discriminating against you. Federal law says you can't discriminate in housing based on race, color, ethnicity, sex, disability, religion or familial status. Illinois law protects tenants from discrimination based race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age (40 and over), marital status, physical, mental or perceived disability, military status, familial status, sexual orientation (including gender identity) or unfavorable military dischargeYou should talk to a lawyer if you think that you are being evicted for any of these reasons. Click on the "Find Legal Help" tab to find free legal help.What does my landlord have to do before I can be evicted? 1. Your landlord must give you a written notice. The notice cannot be oral. Your landlord must also follow certain rules about how to give you the notice. 2. Your landlord must wait for the period of time given on the notice to end. 3. Your landlord must file a court case against you. 4. Your landord must get an order from a judge evicting you from your home. 5. Your landlord must ask the Sheriff to carry out the judge's eviction order if you have not already moved out. If I get a notice, do I have to move right away? No, you do not need to move out of your home right away. Your landlord must first wait for the period on the notice to pass (5, 10, or 30 days). Also, if the notice says you violated your lease, you may be able to correct the violation (like if the notice is about not paying your rent). After the time given in the eviction notice has passed (5, 10 or 30 days), the landlord must file a court case and have you served with a complaint. Then your landlord must take you to court and get an order from the judge to evict you. The Sheriff must then carry out the judge's evition order. Your landlord cannot evict you himself. Only the Sheriff can evict you. Each of these steps has to happen before you have must move. The time may vary. What if I found an eviction notice slipped under my door? No. A notice that is slipped under your door is not allowed by Illinois law. Your landlord must give you a notice in one of three ways:Your landlord can mail the eviction notice to you by certified mail with a return receipt;Your landlord can give the eviction notice to you personally; orThe landlord can give the eviction notice to someone over the age of 13 living in your house.Even though a notice slipped under your door is not a good notice, you still need to go to court if you get a summons. You can tell the judge how you got the notice. If the judge believes you, the case should be dismissed.You should be aware that if you refuse to accept the notice when your landlord tries to give it to you, the landlord can tell you what the notice is and leave it on the ground in front of your door. Also, if no one is living in the unit, your landlord can post the notice on the door of the apartment or house.Are there different kinds of notices? Yes. You may receive one of 3 kinds of notices:Five-Day Notice: You should receive this notice if you do not pay the rent on time. This notice states that you have 5 days to pay the rent that is past due. If you do not pay the rent due within 5 days from the date of the notice, the landlord can file a case in court to evict you. A landlord can only give you a five-day notice if you have not paid rent. If your landlord gives you a five-day notice for any other reason or no reason, tell the judge. The judge should let you stay.Ten-Day Notice: You should receive this notice if you break any terms of the lease. This notice must explain what part of the lease you violated and the dates on which the violation occurred. Under the Illinois state law, you do not have a right to fix the violation. But there are some ordinances, including the City of Chicago Landlord-Tenant Ordinance, which do give the tenant a right to cure the violation.Thirty-Day Notice: If you have an oral or written month-to-month lease, your landlord can end the lease at any time by giving you a thirty-day notice. The thirty days must include a full calendar month. If you do not move out after 30 days, your landlord still must take you to court to evict you.If you think you did not get the right kind of notice, you can talk to a lawyer by searching the "Helpful Organizations."How do I know when the notice period is over? The length of the notice period can change depending on the situation:The notice period starts with the day after the notice is served;Even if the last day of the notice period falls on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, you still must pay your rent by that day (But, your landlord cannot file a lawsuit until the next business day);If you are served the notice by mail, the notice period starts from the day after you actually received the notice.For example, if a five-day notice is mailed to you on January 1, and you receive the notice on January 4, the five-day notice period starts from January 5 and you must pay the rent amount by the fifth day, January 9.Can I do something to avoid being evicted? If you have received a five-day notice for not paying rent, you can stop the eviction by paying the full amount of the rent due. In order to stay, you do not have to pay late charges or utility bills. You only have to pay the rent. If you received a ten-day notice for not paying rent, you may be able to stop the eviction by paying the full amount of the rent due. You need to check the local city ordinances to see if this is allowed.If you do pay your full rent, take a witness with you to pay the landlord. If the landlord doesn't take the rent, hang on to it. You can have your witness tell the judge you offered the landlord the money. You should also show the judge the rent money.If you can pay only part of the rent, see if your landlord will take the rent and agree to let you stay. Make sure you get any agreement from your landlord in writing. Some landlords will say that you can stay if you pay part of the rent and then continue with the eviction action. They are allowed to do this under the law unless you get a written agreement that says you can stay in exchange for the partial rent you paid. It is very important to get any agreement between you and your landlord in writing. You should also have a witness sign it, if possible.In some cities you can also stop an eviction action based on a violation of the lease (a ten-day notice eviction). Some local laws allow you to fix the violation. Be sure to check the local laws to see if you can fix the violation, and be sure to keep track of and write down what action you took to fix the violation.What will the landlord do after serving notice to me? If you do not obey the notice or you do not move out after the notice period expires, your landlord can file a case to evict you in the district court where the apartment is located. A landlord cannot evict you without going to court and getting a court order.The landlord takes you to court by having you served with a summons and complaint. The landlord cannot serve the papers himself or herself. They will probably be served by the Sheriff's office. Read both papers carefully. The summons will tell you when and where you have to go to court. The complaint will tell you what the landlord is asking for. For example, the landlord may just ask the court to order you to leave the apartment, or he or she may also ask that the court order you to pay back rent. What will happen after I have been served with a summons? You must go to court on the date and time written on the summons. Find your courtroom and tell the clerk, who sits next to the judge, which case you are in court for.If you do not go to your court date, the hearing will be held without you. If this happens, the court may enter an order evicting you from your home, and you may be ordered to pay the landlord money.What should I bring to court with me? You should take the following to court:Any notice that the landlord sent you;Any witnesses to support your case;Any letters, records, payment receipts, objects, or photographs that you want the judge to consider.What will happen in court? When your case is called, you should approach the judge's bench and identify yourself by name and as the tenant. At this point, the judge will take control of the proceedings.The landlord will have to show:that they have a right to the unit; that you have not paid rent, violated terms of the lease, or stayed past the end of your lease; that you were served with a proper notice; and that they filed the complaint and had you served with the summons.After the landlord speaks, the judge will ask you questions to help determine your side of the story. You should show the judge anything that you brought with you that the judge wants to see, and you should tell the judge if you have brought any witnesses. You can ask for a trial. If the judge rules for you, you do not have to move. If the judge rules against you, you will have to move. You can ask the judge to let you stay for a few weeks longer, to give you time to find a new place.Do I have to move out right after the judge orders the eviction? When the judge grants an order of eviction to the landlord, you will probably get some time to move. Usually the judge will give you 14-21 days. The landlord cannot do anything during that time. Go to the "Related Articles" section to find detailed information about getting more time to move out.What will happen if I don't leave by the date ordered by the court? If you do not leave when the time ordered by the court is over, the landlord can go to the sheriff's department and ask to have you evicted. Only the sheriff has the authority to physically remove you or your property from your apartment or house. The landlord cannot do it on his or her own. When the sheriff performs the eviction, your possessions are usually left outside with no protection.Will an Eviction Show on My Record? Yes, if you stop paying rent and are evicted, it will be on your record, and prospective landlords may deny your application because of this. However, if you were evicted solely because of a foreclosure proceeding against your landlord, you can petition the judge to seal the record, which means that future landlords will not be able to know that you were evicted.