Eviction is one of the few areas of law where the paperwork at the very start decides the case at the very end. A defective notice restarts the clock no matter how good the underlying claim is.
Illinois requires a specific notice, served a specific way, for a specific number of days, before a case can be filed at all. Landlords lose months to a notice that named the wrong amount or was posted when it should have been handed over. Tenants sometimes have a complete defense sitting in that same document and never learn it.
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We prepare and serve the notice, file in the Cook County Circuit Court, appear, and pursue the order for possession. Where the tenant has a real defense, you will hear that from us early, because a case that is going to fail is cheaper to learn about in week one than in month four.
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A filed eviction is not a decided eviction. Defective notice, accepted rent, conditions the landlord never repaired, retaliation, and discrimination are all live defenses, and several of them are common. The worst outcome is the one where nobody appears and the order is entered by default.
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Governor Pritzker's statewide Covid-19 moratorium on evictions expired on October 4, 2021, and eviction orders can now be filed and processed in the Cook County Circuit Court. Local rules, the assigned courtroom, and the judge's own practices all shape how a case moves. That is knowledge you get from appearing there, not from reading the statute.
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It is not changing the locks, removing a door, shutting off the heat, or moving somebody's belongings to the curb. Illinois calls those a self-help eviction and they expose a landlord to damages that dwarf the unpaid rent. Only the sheriff enforces an order for possession.
The same order every time, because most of the expensive mistakes in this area come from doing step four before step two.
Lease or no lease, what has been paid, what has been asked for in writing, and what condition the unit is in.
The correct notice for the correct grounds, served the way the statute requires, and documented.
The complaint is filed in the Cook County Circuit Court and we appear on the date.
An order for possession is enforced by the sheriff. Never by the landlord.
Longer than most landlords expect. The notice period runs before anything is filed, and the court's own calendar sets the rest. Nobody can promise a date, and you should be careful with anyone who does.
Yes. A tenancy without a written lease is still a tenancy, and it still requires proper notice and a court order to end.
It can. Accepting rent after a notice has been served may waive that notice, depending on the grounds and the timing. Tell your attorney before you accept anything.
Look at the court date and do not miss it. Appearing preserves every defense you have; not appearing usually forfeits all of them.
Retaliatory eviction is a defense in Illinois. Whether it applies depends on the sequence of events, which is why the dates matter so much.
In Illinois, an attorney reads the contract before you are bound by it. That is the whole job, and it is worth more than most people expect for what it costs.
Housing discrimination is rarely announced. It arrives as a unit that just became unavailable, an application that needs one more document, or an appraisal that comes in low for no reason anyone will put in writing.
Illinois is a judicial foreclosure state, which means the lender has to sue you and you have the right to answer. Doing nothing is the option that costs the most.
The rest of the practice is on the practice areas index. If you would rather judge the firm by result than by description, read what clients have said or look at who would actually be handling it.
The first consultation is free. Bring the contract, the notice, or the question, and you will get a straight read on whether you need a lawyer at all.
Contacting Land Law Firm, LLC does not create an attorney-client relationship, and nothing on this site is legal advice. Please do not send confidential information until a written engagement is in place.