Free help for Chicago renters.

Even if a landlord has the right to evict a tenant, the landlord still has to follow certain rules. To legally evict a tenant, the landlord must:

• Give a written lease termination notice,
• Contact the tenant to work out a plan to help the tenant avoid eviction,
• Wait for the period of time given on the notice to end,
• Allow the tenant to pay the rent during the notice period (for a 5-day notice) , and in Chicago, allow the tenant to fix the rule they broke in the lease (for a 10-day notice) ,
• File an eviction case against the tenant in court,
• Have the tenant served with the Complaint and Summons. The Complaint must include: the demand, notice, affidavits of service, and relevant lease provisions. A lease provision is relevant if a breach of that provision prompted eviction. If you do not attach all the required documents, you must fill out the Affidavit-Supporting Documents Not Attached to Eviction Complaint form. This applies if you lost the document, the document does not apply in your case, or you did not have a written lease agreement,
• Submit an affidavit that you made good faith attempts to reach an agreement with the tenant about the unpaid rent and that you registered for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program or a similar state or Cook County program,
• Prove to the judge that the tenant was properly served with the notice and the Complaint, and that the landlord has the right to evict the tenant,
• Get an Eviction Order from a judge evicting the tenant from the home,
• Wait for the stay period on the Eviction Order to end, and
• Ask the sheriff to carry out the judge's Eviction Order if the tenant has not already moved out.

It is illegal to remove a tenant outside of the court process. Learn more about illegal lockouts.