Eviction Frequently Asked Questions

Illinois Landlord Eviction Attorney

• What is the eviction process?
• How long does it take to evict tenants generally?
• How does Landlord Evictions, LLC charge Landlords?

What Is the Eviction Process?

There are primarily two (2) major reasons why tenants must be evicted. The first reason is due to non-payment of rent. Non-payment of rent generally requires a five (5) day notice to be given to the tenant(s). Under Illinois law, a five (5) day notice is required before the eviction process may begin. For example, John Smith prepares a five (5) day notice to Judy Ruby where Judy Ruby must pay $1,300 within five (5) calendar days. If Judy Ruby does not pay the $1,300 within the five (5) calendar days, then John Smith has a right to terminate the lease. It is important that John Smith does not accept partial payment of rent, or otherwise, John Smith, the landlord, must re-do the five (5) day notice and re-serve the five (5) day notice.

In landlord evictions, most landlords fail to properly serve the tenant(s) with the five (5) day or thirty (30) day notice. Valid service of process is not posting the five (5) day notice on the tenant's door. This is invalid and ineffective service of process. Good service requires the landlord or an agent of the landlord to personally give the tenant(s) or their representative the five (5) day notice. Here at Landlord Evictions, LLC, we hire private process servers to serve the five (5) day and thirty (30) day notices, because they understand the law. Effectively serving a tenant the proper notice is much more difficult than most landlords realize.

After the expiration of the five (5) day notice period, the landlord has a right to terminate the lease. The eviction process cannot start until after the expiration of the five (5) day notice. If the landlord files an eviction case prior to the expiration date of the five (5) day notice, then the court can dismiss the landlord's eviction complaint and require the landlord to start the eviction process over. Hiring a landlord eviction attorney is a cost-effective investment in efficiently and quickly terminating and kicking out the tenant and any unknown occupants.

The second major reason landlords evict tenants is if they want to terminate a month to month lease for a variety of reasons. These reasons generally include the following:

• The seller wants to sell the property and secure the property before the closing or before placing the property into the real estate market;
• The tenant has overstayed the lease;
• The tenant does not pay their rent on time, and the landlord wants to get a qualified tenant that pays their rent in a timely manner;
• The tenant is unruly and is making life for other co-tenants in the building difficult, especially when bad tenants make good tenants want to leave the building;
• The tenant is not paying, the lease was from a different landlord, and the tenant and their lease terms are too favorable to the tenant;
• There was a break up in a boyfriend and girlfriend or partner relationship;
• A parent wants to evict their tenant;
• The landlord and tenant are incompatible with one another, and the tenant will not move out on their own; and
• Many other reasons.

The second major reason is considered a termination of the tenancy. The thirty (30) day notice is misleading. Many landlords feel that giving the tenant(s) thirty (30) days to move is the purpose of the thirty (30) day notice. For example, John Smith is the landlord and gives Ruby Jane a thirty (30) day notice on June 8, 2018, informing her that she thirty (30) days to move out of the single-family home or by August 8, 2018. This is an improper thirty (30) day notice interpretation.

The proper notice interpretation is the following. The thirty (30) day notice served on June 8th is assumed to be served at the end of June. If the rent is due on the first of the month, the notice begins at the next time rent is due. If rent is due on the 1st of the month, the thirty (30) day notice takes effect on July 1st. Thus, the tenant(s) must vacate the premises on July 31. After the tenant(s) does not move out by the end of July 31st, then the landlord's attorney may evict the tenant. If the landlord's attorney attempts to evict the tenant prior to the tenant failing to move out by July 31st, then the judge can deny the eviction, even though the tenant did not move out by the 31st of July.

It is vital to start the eviction process when the tenant breached the thirty (30) day notice. In this case, the breach of the thirty (30) day notice does not occur until August 1st. During months such as February, the thirty (30) day notice must be served by the end of the month (i.e. February 28 or 29th, depending on leap year) and the end of the thirty (30) day period is March 30th.

The second part of the eviction process is filing the eviction complaint. Filling out the appropriate paperwork is important. A landlord eviction attorney fills out the eviction complaint, which is signed and verified under oath by the landlord. There are two (2) options in the eviction complaint. The first option is to evict the tenant without an option for money damages (otherwise called "possession of the premises or home"). Generally, this is a valid option only in thirty (30) day notice cases where the landlord is seeking to terminate the tenant's tenancy (or get the tenant to move out, in layman's terms). This is also a good option in cases where a landlord has purchased the property due to a foreclosure or tax sale. The second option is to evict the tenant for money damages and possession of the property. This is the most used option, because the tenant likely owes the landlord money from past due rent. Generally, Landlord Evictions, LLC helps its landlords secure a judgment and a memorandum of judgment against the tenant(s). The memorandum of judgment is recorded at the recorder's office where the property was located, and the tenant cannot purchase a home without paying off the judgment. Judgments in Illinois grow at the rate of nine (9) percent per annum interest.

Furthermore, landlords have collection options, such as placing a lien on a tenant's credit report or garnishing a tenant's wages. In some cases, landlords will spend more money than they will net. Landlord Evictions, LLC can assist a landlord to determine how difficult it will be to collect against a tenant(s).

The third part of the eviction process is service of the summons of the eviction complaint. The state court does not have jurisdiction over the case until the tenant(s) have been served with the eviction complaint. The eviction complaint cannot move forward without serving the tenants, because the court does not have personal jurisdiction over the tenant(s). Hiring an experienced landlord evictions attorney is important, because we understand the eviction and landlord-tenant process.

If the tenant is evading being served the summons of the complaint, there is an option of asking the court for permission to post the eviction complaint on the tenant's door. Hiring a good private process server is critical to serving difficult tenants that do not want to be served. In our experience, many tenants have been through the eviction process and understand the rules and process. In many eviction cases, it is difficult to serve the tenant. We often do not use the Sheriff's Office, because they tend not to be creative nor aggressive in serving a tenant or tenants as private process servers.

COURT AFTER THE TENANT(S) HAVE BEEN SERVED THE EVICTION COMPLAINT

Generally, the tenants are able to be evicted at the first court date, unless there are exceptional circumstances. The exceptional circumstances include providing the tenants an incentive to move out to save the landlord additional court fees and costs and rent money that is lost. Landlord Evictions, LLC finds that monitoring the tenant moving out of the premises is smart, because it saves the landlord a lot of money by reducing non-voluntarily evictions, which cost a minimum of $350 plus movers (and attorney's fees). Furthermore, the longer tenants take to leave the premises, the longer the landlord is unable to rent the premises or place the property for sale (during a desirable time period). Courts often grant tenants a minimum of fourteen (14) days to twenty-eight (28) days in exceptional circumstances to move. The eviction process cannot occur until the expiration of the time period for the order of possession. Eviction judges will be stayed fourteen (14) days to allow the tenant and unknown occupants to move out. A stay in the proceedings means that the landlord cannot forcibly evict a tenant until the tenant has overstayed the time period granted by the judge for the tenant(s) to move out. Additionally, landlords may want to work with tenants during the move out process, because the tenant must pay the landlord in return for additional time to stay. Landlords often do not like this, but if the tenant(s) does not pay, the court will grant the landlord an immediate order of possession. Simply put, the tenants have major incentives to pay the landlord as agreed. Landlords are not required to do this, but sometimes, the landlord feels that it is in their best interest.

Experienced landlord eviction attorneys understand the complex court rules and know the judges' tendencies. Landlord Evictions, LLC understands the complexities of the Landlord eviction process. We do not accept any tenant cases. We serve only landlords.

In conclusion, hiring an experienced landlord eviction attorney is an investment in securing your property and having sound legal advice. Experienced attorneys will partner with you and secure your back owed rent and attorney's fees and costs (when you have a written agreement to allow for reimbursement of attorney's fees). Landlord Evictions, LLC differs from many landlord services, because we have six (6) support staff making sure that the landlord process runs efficiently and smoothly. Second, we are not a high-volume provider of landlord services. Simply put, we are focused on securing your property as quickly as possible and collecting on your back-owed rent and other reasonable expenses in the enforcement of the landlord eviction process. High volume landlord services have difficulty getting into court quickly, because their court calendars do not allow such expediency. Landlord Evictions, LLC may be reached at 630-780-1034 or via online contact form.

How Long Does it Take to Evict Tenants Generally?

The landlord eviction process generally takes the following estimates:

A. Service of Tenant Notices (5 and 30-day notices)

Often, tenant notices are served by our private process servers as quickly as one (1) business day to fourteen (14) calendar days. In our experience, tenants are difficult to serve in some cases, because they evade service of the five (5) and thirty (30) day notices. On average, the private process servers serve the tenants the five (5) and thirty (30) day notices within two (2) to four (4) business days.

B. Eviction Process

1. Drafting of the Eviction Complaint and Filing of the Eviction Complaint

Generally, this process takes one (1) to two (2) business days. Most eviction court dates are received in 14 to 21 days at most.

2. Service of the Eviction Complaint to the Tenants

This process typically takes two (2) business days to four (4) days with difficult tenants being served within a period of ten (10) days. In our experience, a lot of tenants are experienced in the eviction process, despite the landlords failing to know this. Tenants often evade the service of the eviction complaint and make it difficult for private process servers to serve the tenant(s).

3. First Court Date

The first court date is scheduled in 14 to 21 days. The courts often give the tenants fourteen (14) days to move out and, in exceptional cases, longer than fourteen (14) days.

In conclusion, evictions in the best-case scenario take around 28 to 40 days or four to six weeks from beginning the filing of the eviction case to the conclusion of the eviction case.

How Does Landlord Evictions, LLC Charge Landlords?

A. Drafting Notices for Landlords

Landlord Evictions, LLC drafts eviction notices such as (5) day and (30) day notices along with 10 (day) notices for landlords. We operate our law practice virtually and have a smooth and efficient process to service the legal needs of landlords. We also have the ability to serve your eviction notices for an additional fee paid to our private process server team members. Generally, the charges range from $60 to $125 depending on the location for private process serving (of the eviction notices).

The private process server will provide Landlord Evictions, LLC an affidavit which shows where, when, and how the tenants were served or not served the appropriate notices. These affidavits of service are important, because we provide them to the judge to prove the eviction case against the tenant(s).

In conclusion, we do not require an in-person consultation, and most of the interaction occurs over the telephone and email. The landlord generally pays through an ACH transaction or credit card payment. Credit card payments should add an extra 3.5 percent towards the legal fees and costs. ACH transactions are free.

We pride ourselves on delivering excellent and high-quality legal services for Landlords exclusively.

B. Attorney's Fees and Costs for the Eviction Process

Landlord Evictions, LLC currently serves Will County, DuPage County, Kane County, Grundy County, and Kendall County. We do not service Cook County. Landlord Evictions, LLC charges the following attorney's fees:

We charge flat fees for handling an eviction case from the beginning to the end. We also handle drafting of 5 day, 10 day and 30 day eviction notices. Our eviction legal fees are reasonable and cost-effective. We provide quick and efficient eviction services for Landlords exclusively. We can be reached at 630-780-1034