Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Illinois

I received my five-day notice from my landlord after my rent was late at the beginning of this month. I told him I would have the payment by this past Friday, and he agreed to wait. I went to the Veterans Assistance Commission in my county, and they gave me a voucher for $350. My rent is $550, so I gave him the voucher plus $200 for the rent, plus $65 for late fees-$5/day from the first of the month. I put it through his mail slot on the front door of his house because no one was home. Yesterday, he came to my house while I was at work and told my babysitter that he can't use the voucher for this month's rent, since it won't pay out til the middle of next month, but he can apply it to next month's rent. He didn't return the money or the voucher, just said it's not acceptable. Can he still have me evicted?


Asked on 1/15/12, 8:31 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Stephen Messutta

You'll have to talk to him. A 5-day notice terminates the lease if the entire amount demanded is NOT paid in full, unless the landlord is willing to accept LESS in writing. You apparently have no writing - just some oral message left with the babysitter. So what the landlord's intent is, is unclear. However, if he has been accepting vouchers for some time, he and you both understand that apparently they are not like cash. The landlord is entitled to CURRENT payment of rent, not a promise to pay even if it is a voucher. So it's hard to say what the landlord wants to do here -- he's saying he will apply the voucher to NEXT month which would seem to say he is not terminating the lease, but you have nothing in writing, meaning he still wants THIS month's rent. So you need to cover THIS month's rent and get the landlord to withdraw the 5-day notice if you want to be completely in the clear.

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Answered on 1/17/12, 2:28 pm


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