What is a Lease in Illinois?
A basic lease agreement in Illinois will typically include the names of the landlords and the tenants, the address and description of the rental unit, the tenancy period, the rent amount and payment schedule, the security deposit amount, pets policies, rules or crimes that are considered defaults, and the process to follow if there is a breach (either by the landlord or the tenant). Many Illinois lease agreements will also outline fees for things like late payment, bounced checks and returned payments.
Tenants in Illinois have certain obligations as outlined in Statutes of the State of Illinois. For instance, tenants have a duty to pay rent in a timely manner, keep the rental unit and surrounding areas free from nuisances, give adequate notice of any problems, not allow other persons to use the property as a residence (either temporarily or constantly) , give the landlord access to the unit (for repairs and inspections) and repair any damage that they, or their guests, may cause.
As with the obligations of the tenant, Illinois landlords also have tangible duties under the law. For example, the property owner must maintain the habitability of the unit including keeping common areas clean and in good repair, providing running water and heat, keeping the electrical system functioning and weatherproofing the common areas.
While it is not always necessary for rental agreements in Illinois to be in writing, it is to the benefit of both parties to do so. Having a written lease agreement in place allows landlords to hold tenants accountable for their obligations and vice versa, while also providing clear documentation of the transaction.
Legal Ways to Break a Lease in Illinois
Legally Breaking a Lease in Illinois: A Step-by-Step Guide
Legal Reasons to Break a Lease in Illinois – For Illinios tenants, there are certain situations where they can legally break their lease. If you’re facing one of these scenarios, you’re in a good position to walk away from the lease legally. Here are the most common circumstances:
Unsafe Living Conditions – Safety is paramount, and landlords must protect their tenants in this regard. If your apartment becomes unsafe for any reason, you can use this as a reason to break your lease without consequence. Unsafe conditions include the landlord’s failure to maintain the unit in regard to things like:
- Lead paint
- Black mold
- Foul air quality
- Asbestos
Military Service – Servicemembers (those who serve in the military) have certain protections under the Service Members Civil Relief Act (SCRA). This provides a way to legally terminate a lease. If you are a qualifying servicemember you can terminate your lease by providing the landlord with a copy of your military orders.
Landlord Harassment – A landlord can’t harass renters. Harassment happens when they purposely interrupt your quiet enjoyment of the property, like by entering it without your permission (without proper notice), not allowing you to change the locks, not making repairs, or controlling your actions.
Illinois Tenants Rights and Protections
Illinois law offers tenants a number of protections, including safeguards against losing their home or personal belongings simply because they are behind in rent or have breached their lease in another way. Every landlord in the state is required to follow a specific legal process to regain possession of their rental unit, and Illinois has a number of state and federal laws in place to protect the rights of tenants against evictions due to faulty plumbing, unsafe or dangerous conditions, discrimination and other potentially illegal actions by landlords.
Further, Illinois law offers protections for domestic violence victims. Under the Illinois Safety for Abused Families Law, individuals can break their lease if domestic violence or abuse is taking place in the home. This means that a spouse, parent or roommate who may be suffering abuse can legally end the tenancy without suffering penalties or hassles from the landlord. Protection is also extended to those who are the victims of stalkers or sexual assault.
Any tenant who is subject to discrimination due to their race, color, national origin, gender, sex, age or disability is protected under state and federal anti-discrimination laws. These laws make it illegal for landlords to discriminate against people who fall into these categories in most ways. Particularly, it is illegal for a landlord to refuse to rent to someone based on any of the characteristics mentioned above. These laws also protect tenants from retaliation.
How to Legally Break a Lease
First, notify the landlord of a problem that requires attention. If you are an Illinois tenant and it is your first time in contact with your landlord or property manager, then contacting your landlord to discuss issues relating to the leased premises is the first step. Doing so in writing is the best option. Any written records at any point in the process are beneficial to any tenant. Again, if a verbal conversation occurs, documenting the contact in writing is your best option (text, email, letter). Once you notify the landlord of a problem, you must make an additional effort to have the problem corrected. In most instances, Illinois courts require that a tenant does anything he or she can to help the landlord fulfill their obligations under the contract. Document this communication and whether corrective action occurs.
Second, give your landlord a fair chance to make these repairs. And document the steps you take. Courts have found that tenants can only leave a premise if they make a "reasonable" and "good faith" effort to let the landlord know, and to give them the opportunity to deal with the problem. Illinois courts have also found that a tenant cannot break a lease if they are the cause of the problem.
Third, document everything. It’s super important to report the defect to your landlord in writing and give them a reasonable chance to fix it before you move out . There is no standard amount of time required for the landlord to correct the defect. How much time is reasonable will depend on the problem and whether it was caused by any event outside of the landlord or landlord’s property manager’s control. For example, two days is not long enough for the landlord to replace a leaky faucet, while two days may be unreasonable for a large heating system that requires special ordering.
Fourth, document everything some more. When documenting your communications to the landlord, be sure to provide any and all problems with the unit including maintenance requests, requests for repair, requests for a deduction from future rental payments due to problems with the unit, or other similar requests and your landlord’s responses to these requests. If your landlord fails to respond, or does not take any efforts to correct the issue in a reasonable time and while you have been making timely rent payments, then you are probably close to being able to legally break your lease.
Fifth, remove yourself and your belongings. You cannot legally break your lease without vacating the premises. Give 30-days’ written notice to vacate in your lease and notify your landlord that you are vacating the premises. Plan to be out by the date referenced in your notice.
Possible Penalties for Breaking a Lease
Even if you do use one of the legal reasons under the Illinois eviction law and can legally break your lease without any penalties, that doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences if you do it anyway – but there may be ways to mitigate them. One possible penalty is losing your security deposit. In Illinois, landlords have to give you back your security deposit within 45 days after you move out, minus what they can legally deduct under the following circumstances: If you break the lease early without any legal reason, the landlord may also try to keep your security deposit as an extra form of punishment for leaving early. Keep in mind that this penalty is reserved as a strong disincentive for people who break leases without cause – and hopefully does not come up very often. In addition to or separately from losing your full security deposit (which, by the way, has become a significant amount of money), you may also be on the hook for what are called "consequential damages." These are the actual additional costs, such as the cost of finding a new tenant or the lost rent from more than a month’s vacancy, that a landlord incurs due to your breaking the lease before the term is up. For instance, if your landlord has a policy that it can charge you some amount of the rent for every month the lease remains unfulfilled, that may well be used to calculate the tenant’s financial obligation to the landlord when she breaks the lease early. Anything beyond the typical first month of vacancy necessary to secure a new tenant can be counted as consequential damages. In addition, if you have not paid your rent for the period during which your landlord makes unspecified efforts to seek out a new tenant, you may be liable for that cost as well. If your lease has a clause in it that says you have agreed to be responsible for paying your landlord’s fees as the result of your breaking the lease, you may have to pay that amount as well. Here’s the rub: If your landlord has already made a good effort to turn over the apartment to a new tenant and whether you owe any additional rent is instead a matter of whether the landlord’s effort was satisfactory, an Illinois eviction attorney can help you determine your liability to the landlord. Courts have ruled in a few cases that damning evidence of missed opportunities for re-renting an apartment on the part of the landlord can lead to a reduction or even a denial of landlord’s claim for damages.
Consulting an Attorney
Consult a Lawyer
If a tenant is thinking about breaking an apartment lease, it is a good idea to get legal advice. An attorney will be able to evaluate the terms of the lease, and can inform the tenant whether the tenant may have the right, by law , to break the lease without penalty.
A tenant may also have defenses against being held responsible for the landlord’s damages, even if the tenant has broken the lease. An attorney can analyze the facts of the case, and explain the defenses to the tenant.
Talking with a lawyer at the beginning can result in a significant savings of time and resources at the end.