What Is the Eviction Process in Illinois: Notices, Hearing, and Sheriff

The eviction process in Illinois is a court-supervised sequence: the landlord serves a written notice, waits out the notice period, files a complaint in the circuit court, proves the case at a hearing, and, if the judge signs an eviction order, has the county sheriff physically remove the tenant. Every step is set by Article IX of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure, and skipping any of them is the fastest route to a dismissed case.

You Cannot Evict Without the Court

Before anything else, understand what Illinois forbids. Landlords cannot change the locks, remove a tenant’s belongings, or shut off utilities to push someone out. Only a county sheriff can carry out an eviction, and only after a judge has signed an order.¹

Shutting off utilities to pressure a tenant triggers its own penalties. The landlord owes a full rent abatement for every month service was cut, prorated for partial months, plus the tenant’s additional losses, and a court can tack on up to $300 in statutory damages for a deliberate or reckless shutoff.²

Step 1: Serve the Right Written Notice

Every eviction starts with a written notice. Which notice depends on why you want the tenant out.

5-Day Notice for Unpaid Rent

If the tenant is behind on rent, you deliver a written notice demanding payment within at least five days. The notice has to state the exact amount owed and warn that the lease ends if the full balance isn’t paid in that window.³ It also has to include a prominent statement that only full payment preserves the lease, unless you agree in writing to accept a partial payment.⁴ If the tenant pays everything owed within the five days, the eviction stops there.

10-Day Notice for Lease Violations

When a tenant breaks a lease term for something other than nonpayment, the law requires a 10-day notice. The notice must describe the specific violation and tell the tenant they have ten days to vacate.⁵ Whether the tenant also gets a chance to cure the violation depends on location. In Chicago and suburban Cook County, landlords must give the tenant an opportunity to correct most violations (criminal activity excepted) before moving forward. Elsewhere, the lease and local ordinances control.

30-Day Notice to End a Month-to-Month

To end a month-to-month tenancy without alleging any fault, you must give at least 30 days’ written notice. For week-to-week tenancies, the notice period is seven days.⁶ No reason is required. You just inform the tenant the tenancy ends on a stated date.

14-Day Notice for Serious Criminal Activity

For evictions tied to drug offenses, illegal firearms, or violent crimes like assault or arson, Illinois allows a verified complaint seeking possession with at least 14 days’ notice before the hearing. This applies to both public and private housing.⁷

Step 2: Deliver the Notice the Right Way

A perfectly written notice means nothing if it isn’t served correctly. Illinois recognizes four methods:⁸

Handing the notice directly to the tenant.
Leaving it with someone at least 13 years old who lives at or is in possession of the property.
Posting it on the door, but only when nobody is in actual possession of the unit.
Sending it by certified or registered mail with return receipt requested.

Bad service is one of the most common landlord mistakes. If the tenant’s attorney shows that the notice wasn’t properly served, the court dismisses the case and you start over.

Step 3: File the Complaint and Summons

When the notice period expires and the tenant hasn’t paid, cured, or left, you file a complaint in the circuit court for the county where the property sits. Illinois courts now use standardized eviction complaint forms approved by the Illinois Supreme Court.⁹ The complaint identifies the landlord and tenant, the property address, the reason for the eviction, and confirms that proper notice was served. A copy of the notice and proof of delivery is attached.

With the complaint, you file a summons, which tells the tenant about the lawsuit and when to appear. The clerk issues both after you pay a filing fee. Fees vary by county and by whether you are seeking only possession or also a money judgment for unpaid rent, but roughly $100 to $350 is a fair range. After filing, the county sheriff or a licensed private process server delivers the summons and complaint to the tenant.

Step 4: The Court Hearing

The date on the summons is the first court appearance. If the tenant doesn’t show up, the judge will almost always enter a default judgment for the landlord, though you still need to appear and walk through the basics of the case.

When both sides show, the judge may send the case to mediation first. A mediator is a neutral person who tries to help the two sides reach their own deal, whether that’s a payment plan, an agreed move-out date, or another compromise. If mediation doesn’t resolve it, the case goes to trial.

At trial, the landlord carries the burden of proof. You have to show you had the right to possession, that the tenant violated the lease or failed to pay rent, and that proper notice was served. The tenant can present evidence, call witnesses, cross-examine your witnesses, and request a jury trial.¹

Step 5: The Eviction Order and Sheriff Enforcement

If the judge rules for the landlord, the court signs an eviction order granting the right to reclaim the property.¹⁰ The order sets a date on or after which the sheriff can enforce it. Standard cases include a short window for the tenant to leave voluntarily. For emergency cases involving drug activity or violence on the premises, the stay cannot exceed seven days.

You cannot enforce the order yourself. If the tenant is still there past the move-out date, you take the signed order to the county sheriff’s office and schedule the eviction. Only the sheriff can physically remove the tenant and restore possession.¹ The order expires 120 days after it’s entered unless the court extends it, so don’t sit on it.¹¹

Defenses That Can Stop the Case

Tenants in Illinois have several defenses that can derail an eviction, and landlords who ignore them lose cases.

Payment during the notice period. If the tenant pays all rent owed within the five-day window, the eviction cannot proceed.³
Improper notice or service. Wrong amounts on a 5-day notice, missing required language, or service by a method the statute doesn’t allow all get cases dismissed.
Retaliation. The Landlord Retaliation Act makes it illegal to terminate a tenancy, raise rent, or cut services in response to a good-faith complaint about code violations or other legal rights, and a tenant who proves retaliation can recover damages and attorney’s fees.¹²
Landlord’s failure to maintain. A tenant who withheld a reasonable portion of rent because the landlord refused needed repairs or let utilities lapse can raise that as a defense, provided the tenant notified the landlord that repairs were needed.¹

Extra Rules in Chicago and Cook County

If the property is in Chicago or suburban Cook County, the local ordinances add steps on top of the state process. Both require landlords to give tenants a chance to cure most lease violations before moving forward. Under bare state law a 10-day notice just tells the tenant to leave; in these jurisdictions the tenant gets to correct the violation inside that period. Criminal activity is the main exception.

Cook County also runs a winter eviction moratorium. During the holiday season the sheriff will not execute evictions, and when the outside temperature falls to 15°F or below, scheduled evictions are postponed. Heavy snow or dangerous wind chill triggers the same delay. These weather-related protections run through the winter months until conditions improve. The moratorium doesn’t halt the court case; it delays the sheriff’s physical enforcement of an order already signed.

Federally Subsidized Housing: An Extra Layer

If the tenant is in public housing, Section 8 project-based rental assistance, or several other HUD-assisted programs, a HUD rule in effect since 2024 and still in force as of early 2026 requires at least 30 days’ written notice before you can file an eviction for unpaid rent. The notice must itemize the rent owed and include information about income recertification, and if the tenant pays the full balance during the 30 days, the eviction cannot proceed. The rule does not cover Housing Choice Vouchers used in private-market housing or project-based vouchers.

What to Do With the Tenant’s Belongings

When the sheriff carries out the eviction, the tenant’s personal property is often still inside. Illinois doesn’t have a single statewide statute spelling out exactly how landlords must handle what’s left behind, so rules vary by municipality. In Chicago, landlords must store valuable items for at least seven days before disposing of them and must provide written notice to the former tenant listing the items and where to pick them up. Outside Chicago, local ordinances and common-sense practices apply. A landlord who immediately throws out a tenant’s belongings or claims them as their own invites a lawsuit. Document everything with photos, store items for a reasonable period, and provide written notice before disposing of anything.

1
Illinois Attorney General. Landlord and Tenant Rights and Laws
2
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 765 ILCS 735 – Rental Property Utility Service Act
3
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 735 ILCS 5/9-209 – Demand for Rent
4
Illinois Courts. Notice of Termination for Non-Payment of Rent
5
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 735 ILCS 5/9-210 – Notice to Quit
6
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 735 ILCS 5/9-207 – Notice to Terminate Tenancy for Less Than a Year
7
Justia. Illinois Code 735 ILCS 5 – Code of Civil Procedure Article IX – Forcible Entry and Detainer
8
FindLaw. Illinois Code 735 ILCS 5/9-211
9
Office of the Illinois Courts. Approved Statewide Forms – Eviction
10
Illinois Courts. Illinois Courts Eviction Order
11
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 735 ILCS 5/9-117
12
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 765 ILCS 721 – Landlord Retaliation Act