Illinois eviction is a process, and a process can be learned. I file more than 150 evictions a year across Chicagoland, and every single one moves through the same five stages. Scroll through them in order. By the bottom of this page you will know exactly where your case stands, what happens next, and which deadlines carry your outcome.
The road ahead
Every Illinois eviction runs on court clocks, and the clocks run in months, not weeks. Knowing the sequence is what keeps a first eviction from feeling like chaos.
Before any courthouse sees your case, Illinois requires a written notice that matches your exact situation: a 5-day notice for unpaid rent, a 10-day notice for a lease violation, or a 30-day notice to end a month-to-month tenancy, including a tenancy with no written lease. Chicago and suburban Cook County ordinances stretch some of these periods, and federally backed properties need a 30-day CARES Act notice. The right notice, served the right way, is the foundation the entire case stands on.
Get this right
Serve it properly. Hand delivery to the tenant, delivery to a resident age 13 or older, or certified mail. Certified mail counts from the day the tenant signs for it, not the day you send it. Posting the door only works for a vacant unit.
Demand rent only. A 5-day notice that piles on late fees and utilities invites a defense. The notice demands rent, in the correct amount, with the full-payment language that preserves your rights if the tenant pays part.
Shut off the payment portal. Accepting rent after the notice goes out can waive the whole case. Turn off autopay the same day you serve.
Audit your ordinance compliance first. In Chicago the Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance governs; in suburban Cook County it is the Residential Tenant Landlord Ordinance. Security deposit and disclosure mistakes under either one turn a routine eviction into the tenant's lawsuit against you, so I check this before a single notice goes out. My RLTO defense page shows what that exposure looks like from the other side.
735 ILCS 5/9-209, 9-210, 9-207, 9-211. The Chicago RLTO and Cook County RTLO add requirements on top of state law.
When the notice period runs out and the problem stands, we e-file an eviction complaint on the statewide standardized forms. Chicago properties go to the Daley Center; suburban Cook properties go to the district courthouse for their township. The court issues a summons with a return day set 7 to 40 days out, and the Sheriff serves the tenant. Your case now has a number, a courtroom, and a date. Filing carries court costs on top of attorney fees: the Circuit Clerk's filing fee and the Sheriff's fee to serve the summons, both set by their current fee schedules and paid to the court, not to me. The long-form process guide walks through this stage statute by statute.
Get this right
Sue for possession and the money. Illinois lets you claim unpaid rent in the same action as possession when it is pleaded and served correctly. Filing for possession alone leaves your back rent on the table.
Name everyone. All known adult occupants go in the caption, plus unknown occupants, so the eviction order covers whoever the Sheriff finds at the door.
Watch service. If the Sheriff cannot serve the tenant, we move fast on an alias summons or a special process server. A case with no service is a case standing still.
Illinois Supreme Court standardized Eviction Complaint and Summons; Ill. S. Ct. R. 101(b)(3) sets the 7-to-40-day return window.
Since August 2025, residential eviction cases in Cook County pass through the Early Resolution Program before trial: free legal aid for the tenant, court-connected mediation, and rental assistance screening. Expect continuances measured in weeks. Here is the part first-time landlords miss: this stage is an opportunity. Agreed orders come out of the ERP, and a negotiated move-out date or a pay-and-stay agreement with real money attached often beats the time and risk of trial.
Get this right
Price the deal against the clock. Every week of delay is a week of unpaid rent. A settlement that returns your unit 60 days sooner is usually worth more than a perfect judgment 60 days later.
Get every agreement entered as a court order. A handshake in the hallway is unenforceable. An agreed order with a move-out date converts directly to enforcement if the tenant stays.
Pursue rental assistance. When court-based rental assistance pays your arrears, you collect from a fund instead of a tenant with empty pockets. I structure agreements to capture it.
Cook County GAO 2025-08, Residential Eviction and Consumer Debt Early Resolution Program, effective August 21, 2025.
An eviction trial is a summary proceeding. The court hears what is germane to possession: was the tenancy properly terminated, was the notice valid and properly served, is rent owed. Most trials are short. They are won in advance, by the file you built in Stages 1 through 3, and I try these cases with the prove-up package already assembled.
The prove-up package
The lease and the ledger. A clean rent ledger that a judge can read in ten seconds is the strongest exhibit in the courtroom.
The notice with its sworn service affidavit. Defective notice is the number one defense. This is why Stage 1 was built carefully.
The compliance file. Ordinance disclosures, deposit records, and the CARES Act determination, ready before the defense raises them.
A witness with personal knowledge. You or your property manager testifies to the tenancy, the default, and the ledger. I prepare you for exactly what will be asked.
735 ILCS 5/Article IX. A jury demand moves the case to a different, slower track; it is a leverage play, and we plan for it.
Winning gets you an Eviction Order. The judge usually stays enforcement for a period written into the order, and then the order goes to the Sheriff's eviction unit for placement. One hard rule governs everything here: the order is enforceable for 120 days from entry unless the court grants an extension. Sheriff backlogs and winter cancellations eat that window, so placement happens immediately and day 90 goes on my calendar as an alarm.
Get this right
Place the order with the Sheriff immediately. Online placement costs $65 with one certified copy; in person at Daley Center Room 701 costs $95. The completed Eviction Disclosure Form goes with it, and an accurate callback number prevents delays.
Be there on eviction day. Your representative meets the deputies, identifies entry points, and takes possession. Deputies remove people; personal property left behind follows the lease and local ordinance.
Keep the money judgment alive. The possession order expires at 120 days. The money judgment lives on, and wage deductions and citations collect your back rent long after the unit is re-rented.
735 ILCS 5/9-117 (120-day rule); Cook County Sheriff's Office plaintiff's guide to eviction placement.
First-timer questions
Plan in months, not weeks. The notice period runs 5 to 30 days or longer depending on the notice type, the summons return date lands 7 to 40 days after issuance, the Early Resolution Program adds several weeks, and after judgment the court usually stays enforcement before the Sheriff schedules the eviction. An experienced attorney keeps every one of those clocks as short as the law allows.
No. Illinois requires a court order enforced by the Sheriff. A lockout, a utility shutoff, or removing a tenant's property without an eviction order exposes you to damages and can hand your tenant a lawsuit against you. Serve the correct notice and follow the process.
My published flat fees: $1,600 for Chicago, $895-$1,250 for suburban Cook County, $895 for DuPage residential, $995 for Kane, and $2,000 for commercial evictions. Court costs are separate and paid to the court: the Circuit Clerk's filing fee, the Sheriff's fee to serve the summons, and the Sheriff's eviction placement fee, each set by the current fee schedule for your county.
It depends on the language in your notice. Illinois law lets a landlord accept a partial payment and still terminate, but only when the notice prominently states that only full payment of the rent demanded will waive the right to terminate. My notices carry that language. A notice without it is waived by any partial payment you accept during the notice period.
Flat fees, published
Bring me the lease and the ledger. I will pick the notice, run the ordinance audit, and put your case on the fastest track the law allows.
Flat fees cover my attorney work. Court costs are separate and paid to the court: the Circuit Clerk's filing fee, the Sheriff's fee to serve the summons, and the Sheriff's eviction placement fee, each set by the current fee schedule for your county.
Call (630) 839-9195