Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Illinois

It depends on your county's court docket, and how your county's court handles these matters, since there is some variation. In this part of the state, the schedule is something like this: When the full rent is not paid, landlord gives you a five day notice to pay the rent in full. If you fail to pay the rent within the five day period, landlord can file a forcible entry and detainer (eviction) action (FED). Initial hearing will be scheduled in about a week or so after you are served with the FED. If you appear, you can arranged a date to vacate the property, which depending on the judge, can be anywhere from a few days, to a few weeks. Or if you belive the landlord has violated the terms of the lease, you can ask for a trial at this initial hearing, which can add another couple of weeks.

First, your landlord has to serve you with a 5-day notice and the time period has to elapse. Call it a week or so - Thanksgiving.

Then the landlord has to file suit and serve you. Call getting the case put together and on file a few days to a week given the holiday, then a week or two to serve you, then a firm court date if you're served a couple of weeks thereafter. Let's call that possibly December 19.

If a trial is same day (they often are) and the judge grants an order of possession, with your child you would most likely get a 30 day stay. Now we're talking around January 19 as a required move-out date.

Then if you are not out your landlord will "run" to court to file the paperwork to have the Sheriff come out with the county's selected moving company to physically get you out. With all of the foreclosures and other evictions, together with the weather, this is where things become HIGHLY uncertain -- it could take a couple of weeks, you could be at the top of the list, or it could take more time. I'm not a gambler, and with a child in tow, I would not recommend it for you either.

Timing could be tighter, or looser. No guarantees. But hope this helps.

The response given is not intended to create, nor does it create an ongoing duty to respond to questions. The response does not form an attorney-client relationship, nor is it intended to be anything other than the educated opinion of the author. It should not be relied upon as legal advice. The response given is based upon the limited facts provided by the person asking the question. To the extent additional or different facts exist, the response might possibly change. Attorney is currently licensed to practice law actively only in the State of Illinois, inactively in Florida. Responses are based solely on Illinois law unless stated otherwise.