Evictions for Lease Violations Other Than Non-Payment of Rent

Evictions for Lease Violations Other Than Non-Payment of Rent

Failure to pay rent is the most common reason landlords contact us for eviction cases.  However, there are many other situations which can lead to the desire to get a tenant out: keeping unauthorized pets, smoking, loud noise or disturbing neighbors, allowing too many people to stay in the property, damaging the property and using the property in violation of local ordinances are common reasons.  In these cases, a landlord may remove a tenant with a 10 day notice. 

When a tenant is in violation of the lease, it is up to the landlord to determine if and when a termination notice should be served.  By Illinois statute, there is no right to cure. This means that the tenant can still be evicted even if the offending behavior is stopped so long as the landlord can provide a court with sufficient evidence of the lease violation.

Before initiating a court action, called a complaint in forcible entry and detainer, a 10 day notice must be served upon the tenant.  It is best to have a good eviction attorney prepare this notice so that it contains the proper statutory language.  The 10 day notice must specifically describe the reason why the lease is being terminated. 

The best method to serve such a notice is personally upon the tenant or someone age 13 or older who resides with them.  Notice by certified mail is allowed but is not usually desirable as many tenants will refuse to sign a green card. 

Once the 10 days expires, the court case can be filed.  In Lake County, Illinois, most court cases take about 4-8 weeks to get the tenant removed.  You should expect that you will not receive any rent from the tenant during this time even though the money is still owed.  You may be able to get a money judgment for any rent that is withheld.

If you need help evicting a bad tenant, feel free to contact us.

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