Eviction enforcement by Sheriff could take longer than 120 Days!
Today (February 4, 2014), the eviction schedule website for the Cook County Sheriff includes an ominous additional warning. Landlords in eviction lawsuits are being advised that because of the number of days evictions have been cancelled due to adverse weather, many orders for possession will expire before the Sheriff can get around to enforcing them. A copy of the warning on the website is found below:
Eviction orders for possession are valid for 120 days after the court enters its judgment. Do the math. One hundred twenty days divided by seven is 17.14 weeks. That’s quite a delay! Obviously, Sheriff Dart is not saying it will take 17 weeks to evict, but he is warning that it is possible. With evictions cancelled again today and more cold weather on the horizon, landlords need to be aware of the very real possibility for delay and need to be ready to extend their judgments when necessary to avoid an even longer delay!
Richard, my client came in today with a Motion for Substitute Counsel, where the law office filing the motion is seeking leave for the previous attorney and filing their substitution substitution as well as an extension of the previous eviction. The tenant had an eviction date of May 7th, 2013 and that eviction expired. They only received today Motion and Notice via us mail, they did not get served nor was it sent certified mail. It states that my client has to be present at this court date “you must attend the court hearing if you want the court to stop the landlord from having you evicted”…this seems not correct to me. Do they have to have my client served? and does he actually have to be at this court date otherwise he could be evicted?
Thanks for all your helpful posts…
Steve, I really don’t understand this question or the facts you have presented.
Apologies:
My client had a prior eviction that went past the 120 days thus expiring. It was in part due to client attempting to work out rental agreement (to no avail) and scheduling just taking to long. It’s been almost a year since any contact has been made with my client and on Monday or Tuesday he received a Motion to Supplement counsel and a Notice of Motion for a date to be heard of 03/28/2014 and instructing that he must be present on this date to stop the landlord from having him evicted.
He has filled out a cash for keys with the bank and has not heard back from them in a few months.
He wants to file to have the case dismissed due to is dormancy.
Questions:
Do they have to have him served again or is usps mail suffice?
Can he request that the case be dismissed and refiled and if so what is the likelihood?
Thanks
Go ND 😉
Steve, your client has a serious matter. Without knowing the facts behind the case and what the motion was for, I can’t even begin to answer. However, your client should find an experienced tenant defense counsel and get some advice!
He has spoken with a “reputable” tenant attorney and the attorney plans to file a motion to dismiss for “want of prosecution.” My client doesn’t have the fee to hire the attorney right away until he gets paid and his court date is March 28th. He is going to be in Mexico to pick up with children, do you think if he contacts that banks attorney and asks them to move the court date back a week, they will agree. He would rather do it by agreement rather than having to file a motion to vacate.
Disaster…I know.
He can ask. He can even ask the court to merely delay what was happening. However, going it alone without an attorney is always risky. He might want to contact one of the legal aid organizations that handles landlord-tenant matters for tenants.