service

It’s a special process (server)

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serviceThe use of special process servers to serve eviction notices

In most cases, the eviction process begins long before going to court. When a tenant defaults on a lease, fails to pay rent, or when a month-to-month tenancy needs to be terminated, the landlord must serve a “notice of termination” on the tenant.  This usually means placing the notice in the tenant’s hand.

Sometimes, getting the eviction notice served can be one of the hardest parts of the Illinois eviction process. Tenants who are at odds with their landlord or delinquent on rent are somehow able to find ingenious ways to be unavailable, away from home, or downright difficult to serve.  Worse yet, relations between the landlord and tenant can be so strained that a landlord may feel uncomfortable or even unsafe in serving the notice.

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Certified mail service of eviction notices in Cook County?

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postmarkA new case interpreting the Forcible Entry and Detainer Act demonstrates the difference between condominium and landlord evictions

The First District Appellate Court has just published an opinion to Courts of Northbrook Condominium Ass’n v. Bhutani which highlights a major difference between condominium association evictions and traditional tenant eviction cases under the Illinois Forcible Entry and Detainer Act.  The Northbrook case involves a condominium association eviction under the forcible entry and detainer statute.  Landlords might be interested to know that it is not just they who can take advantage of the Forcible Entry and Detainer Statute to recover possession to land.  Condominium associations have a separate right under the FED to file an eviction to collect past due assessments or to obtain possession of real estate owned by a delinquent condominium owner.

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What is the best time to serve a notice for nonpayment of rent?

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A tenant is late with the monthly rent.  It is nearing the end of the month.  Should the landlord wait until the rent for the next month, which is due in just a few days, is also late before serving a notice for nonpayment of rent?  No way.  It is best to serve the notice sooner rather than later.  Why?

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