How to Evict Someone in Illinois Without a Lease: Notice, Court, Sheriff

To evict someone in Illinois without a lease, you have to treat them as a month-to-month tenant: serve a written termination notice, wait out the notice period, file an eviction case in the circuit court if they don’t leave, and have the county sheriff enforce the order of possession. Skipping any of those steps, or trying to force the person out yourself, will cost you the case and can expose you to damages. Plan on several weeks at minimum, longer in Chicago or suburban Cook County.

An Occupant Without a Lease Is Still a Tenant

When someone lives in your property with your permission and pays rent, Illinois treats the arrangement as a month-to-month tenancy even if nothing was ever put in writing. The rental period tracks how often rent is paid: monthly payments create a month-to-month tenancy, weekly payments create a week-to-week tenancy.¹ A court can infer a tenancy from the circumstances, so an informal arrangement where someone regularly hands over money and lives on the property counts.²

That occupant has the same legal protections as anyone with a signed lease: proper notice, a court hearing before removal, and protection against retaliation and lockouts. Treating a no-lease occupant as a trespasser is the single most common mistake landlords make in this situation, and it can result in the landlord owing damages.

Step 1: Serve a Written Notice to Terminate

For a month-to-month tenancy, Illinois law requires at least 30 days’ written notice before you can file an eviction case. For a week-to-week tenancy, the minimum is 7 days.³ You do not have to give a reason. Illinois allows no-cause termination as long as the notice period is met.⁴

The notice needs the tenant’s name, the property address, and the specific date the tenancy ends. The Illinois Courts website has a standardized “Notice of Non-Renewal of Lease or Termination of Tenancy” form.⁵ Aligning the termination date with the last day of a rental period avoids arguments over whether the tenant got a full 30 days.

If the Issue Is Unpaid Rent

When the occupant has stopped paying, you can use the faster nonpayment route. Instead of a 30-day termination notice, serve a written demand for rent giving at least 5 days to pay. The notice must state the amount owed and warn that the tenancy ends if the full amount is not paid within the notice period.¹

Partial payments during the 5-day window do not save the tenancy unless you agree in writing to accept them, and the notice must state that only full payment waives your right to terminate. If the tenant pays nothing or only part of what is owed by the deadline, you can file for eviction immediately without any additional notice.¹

Longer Notice in Chicago and Suburban Cook County

If the property sits in Chicago or in a Cook County suburb covered by the county ordinance, longer notice periods override the state minimums for no-cause terminations. Miss them and your case will fail before it starts.

Under Chicago’s Fair Notice Ordinance, no-cause termination notice depends on tenancy length:

Under six months of tenancy: at least 30 days’ notice.
Six months to three years: at least 60 days’ notice.
More than three years: at least 120 days’ notice.

These extended timelines do not apply to evictions for nonpayment, material lease violations, or abandonment. If you fail to give adequate notice, the tenant can remain in the unit for up to 60 additional days after you finally provide proper notice.⁶

The Cook County Residential Tenant and Landlord Ordinance (RTLO) applies to most unincorporated areas and many suburban municipalities. It requires 60 days’ notice for non-renewal of a tenancy, keeps the 5-day notice for nonpayment, and requires a 10-day cure notice for lease violations.⁷ Not every suburb has adopted the RTLO, so confirm coverage for your municipality.

How to Deliver the Notice

A correctly written notice is useless if it is not served correctly. Illinois recognizes four methods:

Personal delivery to the tenant.
Substitute service by leaving the notice with someone at least 13 years old who lives at the property.
Certified or registered mail with return receipt requested.
Posting on the premises, but only when no one is in possession of the property.

Personal delivery is the strongest option because it is hardest for the tenant to dispute. If you use certified mail, keep the signed return receipt as proof of service when you file.⁸

Step 2: File the Eviction Lawsuit

If the tenant does not leave by the date in your notice, file an eviction case, formally called a Forcible Entry and Detainer action, in the circuit court of the county where the property sits.⁹ You file two documents: an Eviction Complaint and an Eviction Summons. Both are available as approved statewide forms on the Illinois Courts website.⁵

The complaint states that the tenancy was properly terminated by written notice, identifies the property, and lists the parties. Attach a copy of the notice you served and your proof of delivery. If you also want unpaid rent, say so in the complaint. Possession and a money judgment can be sought in the same case.

Filing is done through the state’s e-filing system, with exemptions for people without computer or internet access. Filing fees vary by county and by whether you are seeking possession only or possession plus money, generally in the range of $100 to $300. After filing, the Summons and Complaint must be served on the tenant, usually by the county sheriff or a licensed private process server. This is a separate step from delivering the original termination notice.

Step 3: The Court Hearing

Eviction cases in Illinois often require more than one appearance. The first date may be a status hearing where the judge confirms service and readiness. Timing varies by county.

At the hearing, the judge can dismiss the case if the notice was defective, refer the parties to mediation, enter a judgment for possession, award back rent, or approve a settlement. The tenant can raise defenses, including that the notice period was too short, that service was improper, or that the eviction is retaliatory. Illinois prohibits evicting a tenant for reporting housing code violations to a government agency.⁴

If the judge rules in your favor, the court issues an order of possession. That order may include a stay date giving the tenant additional time to move before the sheriff can act. Some orders grant immediate possession with no stay.

Step 4: Sheriff Enforcement

Only the county sheriff can physically carry out an eviction in Illinois. Once you have the order of possession, you schedule enforcement through the sheriff’s office. In Cook County, enforcement can happen as soon as 24 hours after the order is placed with the sheriff.¹⁰ Timelines in other counties vary.

On the day of the eviction, uniformed sheriff’s personnel arrive, knock, and announce. If no one answers, they can force entry. They check the premises, remove anyone covered by the order, turn possession over to the landlord, and post a “No Trespassing” notice on the door.¹⁰ The tenant may be allowed to take essential items like medication and documents.

Illinois has no comprehensive state statute requiring landlords to store an evicted tenant’s remaining belongings for a set period. In Chicago and Cook County, check local ordinances for any additional requirements on handling abandoned property.

Do Not Try to Force the Tenant Out Yourself

Changing the locks, removing belongings, cutting off water or electricity, or using threats to make the occupant leave is illegal in Illinois. A landlord who does any of this can be ordered by a court to restore the tenant’s access and pay damages. These rules apply even when the occupant has no written lease and has never paid rent. Once you allow someone to live in your property, only a judge can take that possession away.

One More Check: Active-Duty Military Tenants

If the tenant is an active-duty servicemember or a dependent, the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act adds protections on top of Illinois law. The court can stay eviction proceedings for at least 90 days if military service has materially affected the tenant’s ability to pay rent, with discretion to extend further. The SCRA’s rent threshold adjusts annually for inflation and is over $10,000 per month as of 2025, so it effectively covers nearly every residential rental.¹¹ SCRA violations carry serious federal consequences, so confirm your tenant’s status before filing.¹²

1
Justia Law. Illinois Code 735 ILCS 5 Article IX – Eviction
2
Illinois State Bar Association. Your Guide to Landlord-Tenant Law
3
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 735 ILCS 5/9-207 – Notice to Terminate Tenancy for Less Than a Year
4
Illinois Attorney General. Landlord and Tenant Rights and Laws
5
Office of the Illinois Courts. Approved Statewide Forms for Eviction
6
City of Chicago. Know Your Rights – Fair Notice Ordinance
7
Cook County. Residential Tenant Landlord Ordinance
8
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 735 ILCS 5/9-211 – Service of Demand or Notice
9
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 735 ILCS 5/9-102 – When Action May Be Maintained
10
Cook County Sheriff’s Office. Eviction Procedure – Tenant’s Guide
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3951 – Evictions and Distress
12
U.S. Department of Justice. Financial and Housing Rights