Order for Possession

Breaking down the new State of Illinois Eviction Order

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New Eviction Form Released

Back in September, I wrote about changes made to the Forcible Entry and Detainer Eviction Act.  The gist of the changes was to get rid of the words “Forcible Entry and Detainer” and replace them with “Eviction” and to create a “standardized” eviction order.  The law went into effect on January 1, 2018 and the state-standardized Eviction Order (known as form E-O 3500-2 in Cook County) is now available in courtrooms and online.  The form is radically different than the Order for Possession form that many Chicagoland landlords may be used to.  Let’s take a closer look. 

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Polar Vortex Deja Vous and Eviction

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casbahEvictions and the Weather Forecast 2015

Although the eviction moratorium is set to end today, I have my doubts that the Sheriff will be working tomorrow.  The weather forecast for tomorrow (1/6/15) predicts a high of 14 degrees and a low of -4 degrees.  This feels eerily like 2014.  As most Chicago landlords know, the Cook County Sheriff is prohibited by the Clerk of the Circuit Court general order from enforcing evictions (1) whenever the outside temperature is 15 degrees Fahrenheit or colder on the actual day of the eviction or (2) whenever regardless of outside temperature, extreme weather conditions endanger the health and welfare of those to be evicted.  As of 10:45am today (1/5/15), the Sheriff’s eviction schedule website looks like this:

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Sheriff working hard to reduce winter backlog

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shervanSheriff’s Deputies processing lots of evictions

Props and kudos to Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and his Sheriff’s Deputies who are clearly (to me) working their tails off to get eviction orders processed.  The horrible cold has created an unbelievable backlog in the processing of eviction orders, but a quick look at the Sheriff’s website will plainly show that the Sheriff is scheduling many more evictions on a daily basis than in my recent memory. 

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When Illinois Eviction Judgments Expire

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oldorderWhat do you do when your eviction order gets old?

In case you missed it, the Cook County Sheriff is now warning plaintiffs in Cook County eviction cases that the delays in enforcement as a result of inclement weather could put the plaintiff’s eviction order in jeopardy.  What exactly happens when an eviction order gets “too old”?

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What happens after getting an order for possession?

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moving day for evicted tenantsSo, the landlord has served a notice, waited the notice period, filed a lawsuit, went to court, and had a trial.  At the end of the trial, the court awarded the plaintiff-landlord an “order for possession”.  The order for possession is a court order granting possession of the real estate that is the subject of the forcible entry and detainer lawsuit back to the landlord.  It means the landlord “won” the case and is entitled to recover possession of his real property.

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Cook County Sheriff eviction enforcement procedures can be confusing and difficult

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Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart’s distaste for the enforcement of possession orders is well documented when it comes to foreclosure-related evictions.  Whether intentional or not, the Sheriff’s office has instituted a number of policies that make life difficult for landlords seeking the enforcement of their eviction orders.  I have reported here that the smallest “scratch out” on an Order for Possession, unless accompanied by a judge’s initials, will result in the Sheriff’s refusal to enforce the eviction order.

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Illinois eviction law amended to allow rent through stay of possession

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State of IllinoisIn an Illinois “joint action” forcible entry and detainer case (ie. an eviction lawsuit asking for both rent due and possession), plaintiffs can plead for and judges routinely award plaintiffs a judgment against defendants for pro rata rent through the day of the eviction trial.  Governor Quinn just signed into law HB 1209.  The bill, effective as of January 1, 2012, allows a landlord plaintiff to include in an eviction complaint a request for the pro rata amount of rent due for any period that a judgment for possession is stayed.  So, what does this mean?

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