House & Apartment

In shared housing, eviction laws apply when:

• The person seeking eviction has a stronger legal right to possess the property than the person they are trying to evict,
• The person at risk of eviction does not have ownership or equal possession rights, and
• The person at risk of eviction is not married to the person seeking eviction.

Personal relationships between adults do not change the way eviction laws work. These laws can be applied when the housing provider and the person at risk of eviction are:

• Friends,
• Romantic partners who are not married to each other, and
• Adult Any person 18 years old or over family members.

The person seeking eviction must follow all required eviction procedures. To learn more about the eviction process, read:

• Written eviction notices,
• Dealing with unpaid rent,
• Addressing lease violations,
• Ending a lease, and
• How eviction cases work.

Legal options for a housing provider to make an adult Any person 18 years old or over household member move out include:

• Negotiating a move-out agreement without going to court,
• Evicting a tenant, A person who rents a space subtenant, A tenant who will share the rental payments. They can also take over from the first tenant in the apartment. or other occupant (learn about Written eviction notices and How eviction cases work), and
• Filing for an Order of Protection, which can grant exclusive possession of the home.

These options apply to friends, romantic partners, and adult family members. They do not apply if the housing provider is married to the person they want to move out.

Yes, a housing provider can ask an adult Any person 18 years old or over who lives with them to leave. If the person agrees and moves out, there is no need to serve Giving court documents to someone written notice or go to eviction court. Learn more about Negotiating a move-out agreement without going to court.

When an adult refuses to move out, the housing provider must use the eviction process. Unless the parties reach an agreement, the housing provider must:

• Serve any required written eviction notices and wait the required amount of time (learn more in Written eviction notices),
• Go to court to ask a judge to enter an eviction order (learn more in How eviction cases work), and
• Schedule the eviction with the sheriff's A county officer who can serve people with summons. They can evict someone with a court order. office.

Sometimes, being asked to leave is related to abuse:

• A person is asked to leave because they are causing harm in the shared living situation, or
• A housing provider is asking a person to leave or threatening to evict them as part of a pattern of abuse or control.

In these situations, contact:

• The Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline at (877) 863-6338, or
• The National Domestic Violence Hotline at (800) 799-7233.

People in shared living situations can file for an Order of Protection against other household members who are causing harm. A judge can enter an emergency Order of Protection. In an Order of Protection case, a judge may:

• Grant exclusive possession of the home, or
• Limit contact or access within the home.

Learn more from:

• The Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline at (877) 863-6338, or
• The National Domestic Violence Hotline at (800) 799-7233.

A tenant A person who rents a space who needs to move for safety reasons may also have the right to end a lease early under the Illinois Safe Homes Act. This law allows qualifying tenants to terminate a lease without penalty when specific safety conditions are met. Learn more about Housing protections for survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and sexual assault.

No, lockouts are illegal even when the person being forced out is a friend, romantic partner, or adult Any person 18 years old or over family member.

Lockouts are situations where a housing provider:

• Prevents a person from accessing their unit or room, or
• Makes the person’s living space unsafe or unlivable.

Housing providers who have personal conflicts with an adult living with them cannot lock that person out. The law about lockouts still applies when an adult lives with a housing provider as:

• Friends,
• Romantic partners who are not married to each other, or
• Family members or relatives.

Learn more about Lockouts and emergency rental repairs.

Yes, a spoken (oral) agreement to let an adult Any person 18 years old or over move in can create a lease. Friends, romantic partners who are not married to each other, and adult family members can enter into leases that are covered by landlord An owner of property who rents it out to a tenant -tenant laws. When the only agreement is spoken, this type of arrangement is usually a month-to-month tenancy. 

In a month-to-month tenancy:

• The person who moves in is expected to pay their share of rent or living expenses on a monthly basis,
• Either person can end the arrangement, and
• The housing provider must give written notice to end the agreement (learn more in Ending a lease).

When a lease exists, the housing provider must also follow rules for written eviction notices before evicting a person who:

• Does not pay their share of rent or living expenses on time (learn more in Dealing with unpaid rent), or
• Engages in criminal activity (learn more in Addressing lease violations).

For more details, read Written eviction notices and How eviction cases work.

Adults living in a family member's property who are told to move out can:

• Negotiate a move-out agreement without going to court,
• Participate in an eviction case filed against them, and
• Live in the property unless a judge orders otherwise.

In Illinois, evictions must be done by the sheriff. A county officer who can serve people with summons. They can evict someone with a court order. The sheriff requires a judge's order allowing the eviction. It is illegal for a housing provider to force a person out, even if the person living in their property is an adult Any person 18 years old or over family member. The housing provider must obtain an eviction order from a judge, and the sheriff must carry out the eviction. 

Learn more about:

• Lockouts and emergency rental repairs,
• Written eviction notices, and
• How eviction cases work.

No, adults cannot defend against eviction on the grounds of being family members or relatives. The eviction process applies to adult Any person 18 years old or over family members living in a relative's home who:

• Have spoken (oral) or written permission to live in the property,
• Received permission from someone with the legal right to live there, such as a property owner or tenant, A person who rents a space
• Do not own or share legal ownership of the property, and
• Are not married to the housing provider.

Children cannot be eviction defendants. Eviction cases must be dismissed Cases dismissed with no further action anticipated. and sealed if they name:

• Minors (children under 18 years old), or
• People who were minors when the lease was signed.

Minors who are named in eviction cases can also seek damages (sue for money).

No, a tenant A person who rents a space cannot evict another tenant. Eviction A court case brought by a landlord to get a tenant to move out requires one person to have a superior right of possession. A superior right of possession means a stronger legal right to control the property. For example:

• A property owner can evict a tenant or other occupant in their property, and
• A tenant can evict a subtenant. A tenant who will share the rental payments. They can also take over from the first tenant in the apartment.

A tenant cannot evict another tenant who has the same right to live in the property. A landlord An owner of property who rents it out to a tenant can file an eviction case against a tenant who lives in the property by spoken (oral) or written agreement when eviction laws allow removal. When there are conflicts between tenants:

• One or both people can try Negotiating a move-out agreement without going to court with the landlord,
• A person who is being harmed by another person on the lease can seek an Order of Protection against them, and
• A person who is being harmed by another person on the lease can use Housing protections for survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and sexual assault to move out.

No, eviction A court case brought by a landlord to get a tenant to move out is not the right process for one half of a married couple to evict the other spouse. Eviction cases apply when one person has a stronger legal right to control the use of the property. When people are legally married to each other, their rights to shared property are usually equal.

Spouses can resolve the use of property in other types of cases:

• Filing for an Order of Protection, which can grant exclusive possession of the home, when a spouse is causing harm, and
• Filing for legal separation or divorce (learn more about Legal separation and Dividing property and debt in a divorce).

For help with questions about removing a spouse from shared property, use Get Legal Help.

For help with legal questions about eviction, use Get Legal Help or contact:

• Eviction Help Illinois statewide at (855) 631-0811, or
• Cook County Legal Aid for Housing and Debt in Cook County at (855) 956-5763.

When safety is a concern in shared living situations, including roommates, romantic partners, and adult family members who are part of the same household, contact:

• The Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline at (877) 863-6338, or
• The National Domestic Violence Hotline at (800) 799-7233.

Learn more about Protection from abuse.