Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Illinois

Landlord wanting to move into my own home

I have property that has been rented out for several years now. I am now ready to move into the home having moved back to the area with new life circumstances. Can I serve a 30 day notice if I'm moving back in as the owner and not renting it again? Can the yearly lease be broken? I have visited home and there is now also damage to the siding, flooding and mold in the basement that was not reported to me unti the day I went to see the property (6 wks later adn they may have caused by leaving a hose on), a large dog that is now allowed, and broken basement windows, a potential leak in the roof, among other damage. I hesitate to fix anything until I am living there myself. When I call them to get schedule a home inspection, they don't call back. I will be giving my own notice soon and would like to move in myself and fix my home. Under what circumstances can I give them notice to vacate? I appreciate any advice.


Asked on 9/03/07, 2:15 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Lesley Hoenig Lesley A. Hoenig, Attorney at Law

Re: Landlord wanting to move into my own home

I would review your lease and see if any of the above are valid reasons to end the lease. If your lease specifically state that they are not allowed to have a dog (or pets in general) on the premises, that is a valid reason.

It may be difficult to prove they caused the damage to the house. I do not know what part of Illinois you are in, but flooding happened to many people in Northern Illinois the past couple weeks, and that isn't in the tenants' control, and tenants normally don't have insurance for the structure, the landlord does. I'd be surprised if a leak in the roof could actually be blamed on the tenants. How or why would they cause such damage?

If you have evidence that they are violating the terms of the lease, you can get them evicted, but it doesn't sound likely that notice will be sufficient to get these tenants out. You may have to go to court, and have a trial before you get them out. It is imperative that you speak with an attorney that deals with such matters regularly, to make sure you can successfully evict the tenants.

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Answered on 9/04/07, 5:39 pm


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