Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois

Lease termination questions are difficult to cover on a site like this. Start by reading the lease to determine how it addresses the end of the term. Follow those terms. At minimum, I would give 30 days written notice even if it is not required.

If it is important enough to you to get the tenants out, speak with an attorney. Very likely, a copy of the lease can be faxed or E-mailed and an attorney can give advice about the lease and statutory requirements without an office meeting.

You don't say where the unit is located. In Chicago, for example, a unit that is subject to the Chicago Residential Landlord & Tenant Ordinance ("RLTO") requires 30 days prior notice of intent NOT to renew, and to the extent the notice is not given at LEAST 30 days prior to the end of the lease, the lease goes out on a month-to-month basis (not to exceed 60 days) and you might have to evict. Hire an attorney to prepare the proper notice and then explain how to serve it. Outside of Chicago and some other towns with similar ordinances, it will be based on whatever your lease says you need to do -- VERY few leases have a notice of non-renewal clause, but without seeing yours, we can't say. Plus, the general rule in Illinois is that if the "lease" is actually not written but is a "year-to-year" tenancy, then 60 days notice is required.