A Will County Landlord-Tenant Attorney Resolves Lease and Eviction Disputes

The relationship between a landlord and a tenant is governed by the lease and by Illinois statute, and disputes over evictions, security deposits, or habitability move from frustrating to expensive faster than either side expects. This is deadline driven law. Notice periods, filing rules, and return windows all carry consequences, and missing one can cost you a case you would otherwise have won. Two significant changes landed recently, one on deposits in 2024 and one on retaliation in 2025, and plenty of leases and habits have not caught up. Jeff McCarthy represents both landlords and tenants across Lockport, Joliet, and Will County, and stays on the file himself. Illinois eviction procedure sits within the Code of Civil Procedure.

Security Deposits: the Rules Changed in 2024

For decades the Illinois Security Deposit Return Act protected tenants only in buildings with five or more units. That threshold is gone. Public Act 103-0224, effective 1 January 2024, extended the Act to residential landlords statewide, so the same rules now apply whether you rent out one condominium or a hundred apartments. The mechanics are strict. A landlord withholding any part of a deposit for damage must give the tenant an itemized statement with actual or estimated repair costs and paid receipts or copies within 30 days of move out, and must return the deposit or its remainder within 45 days. Miss the itemization and the right to withhold for damage is lost entirely. Withhold in bad faith and a court can order twice the deposit plus costs and attorney fees. A separate statute, the Security Deposit Interest Act, still applies only to buildings of 25 or more units and requires interest on deposits held there.

Evictions, Lockouts, and Retaliation

Illinois eviction runs on a fixed track under the Eviction Act, and skipping a stage kills the case. It begins with written notice: five days for unpaid rent, giving the tenant five days to pay in full; ten days for a lease violation; or thirty days to terminate a month to month tenancy. The notice has to say the right things and be served the right way, and that is precisely where most cases fail.

If the tenant does not pay, cure, or leave, the landlord’s only lawful next step is filing an eviction case in the circuit court. The tenant is served, both sides appear, and a judge decides whether to enter an eviction order. Even with an order in hand the landlord cannot touch the tenant or their belongings. Only the county sheriff may execute it, and if the sheriff has not enforced it within 120 days the order expires unless the court extends it.

Self-help eviction is never lawful in Illinois, however clear the violation. Changing the locks, shutting off heat or water, removing doors, or putting belongings on the curb without a sheriff executed court order is illegal outright. A tenant locked out has real claims, and a landlord who resorts to it hands the tenant leverage that can outlast the eviction case itself.

Illinois also strengthened its retaliation law. The Landlord Retaliation Act, 765 ILCS 721, effective 1 January 2025, replaced the older Retaliatory Eviction Act. A landlord may not end a tenancy, raise the rent, cut services, refuse to renew, or threaten suit because a tenant in good faith complained to a government agency or community organization about code violations, requested repairs, joined a tenants’ organization, testified about the condition of the premises, or exercised any legal right. Act within a year of that protected activity and the law presumes retaliation, leaving the landlord to prove a legitimate reason. Tenants should document complaints. Landlords need a clean, documented business reason before acting against a complaining tenant.

Most disputes follow the same path regardless of which side you are on. We review the lease, the notices, and the facts to establish where you actually stand. Proper written notice is usually the first legal step, so we make sure it is given, or answered, correctly. Many matters then resolve without court through a clear demand or a negotiated agreement, and we pursue that route where it serves you. Where it cannot be resolved, we represent you in the eviction or dispute proceeding in Will County.

Speak With Jeff McCarthy About Your Landlord-Tenant Dispute

Jeff handles both sides of these matters, which is more useful than it sounds, because knowing how the other side’s case gets built is how you avoid handing them one. For landlords that means the notice, the filing, and the proof are right the first time, since a defective notice means starting over, and the deposit documentation is built to survive a challenge. For tenants it means every stage gets examined for the defects that defeat or delay a case, deposits get recovered when a landlord stonewalls, and move out terms get negotiated when that is the better outcome. You work with Jeff directly, with more than thirty years of Will County experience behind it. Call today to protect your rights. You can also reach us anytime through our contact page, or call (815) 838-5297 directly.