Illinois Eviction Guide for Landlords
My complete eviction library for Illinois landlords. Every notice, deadline, form, and fee in one place. Free notice downloads below.
Start Here: How Eviction Works in Illinois in 2026
This page is my eviction library. It collects every guide, notice form, and tool I publish for Illinois landlords. I keep it current for 2026.
The law sets a strict sequence. You serve the correct notice. You wait out the notice period. You file the case. You serve the summons. The court, and then the sheriff, return your property. One wrong step restarts the clock.
Use the sections below to find the right notice, the right county page, and the free downloads. I practice in these courts four days a week. I wrote each guide myself.
What an Eviction Costs in 2026
I charge a flat fee. It starts at $895 in DuPage and the Bridgeview district of Cook County. Chicago cases are $1,600, and a contested trial is included. Commercial cases are $2,000. You also pay the court filing fee and the process server.
I keep the full price tables, with every court filing fee, on two pages. Chicago and Cook County eviction pricing →
Flat fees for every county I cover →
Commercial tenant? See the full commercial eviction service page →
One flat fee covers the whole case. Failed service, extra court dates, and mediation do not raise the price. Evict the problem, not the tenant.
The Court Process, Step by Step
Every Illinois eviction follows the same path. Notice first. Then the filing. Then service, court, and mediation. Then trial if mediation fails. Then the sheriff. I wrote a full guide that walks through all eight steps with timelines for 2026.
Read the full Illinois Eviction Process guide →
Which Eviction Notice Do You Serve?
Illinois law makes you start with a written notice. The correct notice depends on the problem and on how long the tenant has lived there. Serve the wrong one and the case restarts from day one. Match your situation to a card below. Then use the guides and the free forms under it.
5-Day Notice
Non-Payment of Rent
10-Day Notice
Breaking the Terms of the Lease
30-Day Notice
Non-Renewal of Lease
60-Day Notice
Tenant has been there 6 months+
120-Day Notice
Tenant has been there 3 years+
Immediate
Squatters
The Eviction Guide Library
Read the full step-by-step Illinois Eviction Process guide →
5-Day Notice Illinois: The Complete Guide →
No Written Lease? How to Evict Anyway →
The whole process in 38 seconds: the notice, the filing, the wait, the sheriff, your keys back.
Read the transcript
Your tenant has not paid in three months. This notice is the easy part. One mistake in Cook County eviction court and the clock starts over. Wrong notice, wrong service, wrong name on the complaint. And every month you wait is another month of free rent you are giving away. I file it right the first time, so the sheriff's knock comes as fast as the law allows. Get your property back. I am Justin Abdilla.
Tenant Used a Fake Identity? The Landlord's Playbook →
DIY Eviction vs Hiring an Attorney: Which Cases You Can Run Yourself →
Serving the Eviction Notice Yourself: The Four Legal Methods →
Wait It Out or File Now? The Rent Math →
Cash for Keys and Other Alternatives to Eviction →
Flat-Fee Eviction Pricing for Every County I Cover →
Rent Loss Calculator: What Waiting Is Costing You →
Kane County Evictions ($995 Flat Fee) →
Suburban Cook County Evictions by District →
My Tenant Is a Pain. How Do I Evict Her? →
Someone Is Living There Who Is Not on the Lease →
Evicting a Section 8 Tenant: What Changes →
The Sheriff Has Not Shown Up: The 120 Day Trap →
Free Chicago RLTO Lease Template →
Free Download
Get the Exact Eviction Notices We File, Free
The Illinois Supreme Court standardized forms we serve for our own clients. Enter your email and all three download instantly.
- ✓ 5-Day Notice: Non-Payment of Rent
- ✓ 10-Day Notice: Lease Violation
- ✓ 30-Day Notice: Non-Renewal of Tenancy
Your forms are ready:
Serve the wrong notice, or serve it the wrong way, and the case restarts from day one. If you'd rather have it done right, call (630) 839-9195.
Understand the Chicago Landlord Tenant Ordinance
If you want your eviction to result in the tenant leaving and not result in you getting sued, read this section. The RLTO imposes specific requirements on Chicago landlords for security deposits, notices, lease disclosures, and maintenance. Get any one of them wrong and the tenant can countersue for two times the deposit plus attorney fees.
Before You Need a Chicago Eviction Lawyer: Have the Correct Processes in Place
Save Money on Security Deposits and Taxes with an Attorney-Created LLC
In Illinois, landlords can be liable for 200% of the security deposit plus tens of thousands in attorney fees if they don't have the proper banking structure. Most of my clients didn't know this before they called me.
Why Hire an Attorney to Create an LLC?
- Creating an LLC for a rental property provides liability protection and pass-through taxation.
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- An LLC can contain the threat of a lawsuit from tenants, visitors, buyers, sellers, lenders, or other aggrieved parties.
¡Hola Chicago! Se Habla Español
Atendemos a propietarios e inversionistas de habla hispana en todo Chicagoland. Contacte la oficina y le pondremos en contacto con un miembro del equipo que habla español.
Frequently Asked Questions
Five days for the notice. Then you file. Then it's six weeks to get your first court date. During that break before the first court hearing, we make every attempt to serve process on your tenant. They have to get copies of the court documents. If service succeeds, we start the timetable right away. If it fails, we try again with additional safeguards. After the first court date there is usually a mediation hearing 3 to 4 weeks out. Then the case proceeds to trial if mediation fails.
It's not hard. You prepare the file, make proper notices, and wait. The thing that will delay your process and complicate things the most is failing to act now. Don't take late rent payments while your case is ongoing.
Non-Payment of Rent: 5 days. Breaking the Terms of the Lease: 10 days. Non-Renewal of Lease: 30 days. If they have been there 6 months or more: 60 days. If they have been there 3 years or more: 120 days. Squatters get told to leave immediately.
Judges call me by my first name. We're in these courts at least four days a week. In the last year I've done hundreds of filings. We have given guest talks and have been a source for the Chicago Tribune twice. You're in good hands.
A tenant with no written lease can be evicted, but the notice period runs on length of occupancy, not on the absence of a lease: 30 days under six months, 60 days from six months to three years, and 120 days at three years or more in Chicago under the Fair Notice Ordinance. Tenants without a written lease are not shielded from eviction.
The rules require us to attach the notice, an affidavit of service, and your lease to a complaint. We'd also like your ledger of accounts. We often generate notices based on what you tell us about the problem, and we hire process servers to deliver them. An expired lease is fine; they nearly always count in court.
Rates vary by location: Chicago (Cook County): $1,600 flat fee (RLTO cases). Cook County Suburbs: $895 to $1,250 by municipal district (Bridgeview (5th) $895; Skokie (2nd), Maywood (4th) & Markham (6th) $995; Rolling Meadows (3rd) $1,250). DuPage County: $895. Kane County: $995. Commercial evictions: $2,000 flat fee. Other county rates are available on request. You will also need to pay a process server and filing fees.
Yes. You get direct attorney communication and access to our client portal. We update you at every meaningful step: service, court dates, mediation outcomes, judgment, and sheriff scheduling.
We coordinate with the Sheriff and, when needed, with locksmiths and trade-out crews. The goal is to get possession back cleanly and document the condition of the unit so any post-judgment damages claim is well-supported.
Section 8 tenancies have additional federal notice and good-cause requirements layered on top of Illinois law. We handle Section 8 evictions and coordinate with the housing authority on any required notices.
"Take your property back."
Call Today for Your Free Eviction Case Review
Every week you wait is another week someone is living in your property for free. The call is free. The delay is not.
All consultations are confidential.