House & Apartment

Worried about doing this on your own? You may be able to get free legal help.

The Big Picture

To evict a tenant, a landlord must give the tenant notice and go through a court process to get an Eviction Order. The Sheriff may then enforce the eviction order by physically removing the tenant…

Giving a tenant an eviction notice How-To Print this to take with you Share this page to social media channels QUICK EXIT

Internet usage can be tracked. Use this to leave this site immediately. Remember to clear your browser history to hide activity.

Help ILAO open opportunities for justice

To start the eviction process, you need to give the tenant a written eviction notice.

The notice must have correct information to be valid. Use the Evict a tenant Easy Form to make the notice for you need.

Deliver the notice

In order to do this you must:

Give it to the tenant personally;
Give it to someone over the age of 13 who lives with the tenant;
Mail it by certified or registered mail, with a return receipt from the addressee; or
In case no one is living in the actual premises, by posting it on the door.

Remember, if you do not give your tenant proper notice, the case will be thrown out of court. You must keep a copy of the notice. You will need to attach the notice when you file the Eviction Complaint. You will also need to attach the affidavits of service and relevant lease provisions. A lease provision is relevant if a breach of that provision prompted eviction. If you do not attach all the required documents, you must fill out the Affidavit-Supporting Documents Not Attached to Eviction Complaint form. This applies if you lost the document, the document does not apply in your case, or you did not have a written lease agreement.

Fill out a Proof of Service

After the tenant is served, you must fill out the Proof of Service and sign it. The Proof of Service tells the court how and when the notice was delivered. When you file your lawsuit in court, you will need a copy of the notice with the completed Proof of Service.

Note: The notice does not need to be notarized before it is given to the tenant. You also do not need to notarize the Proof of Service form.

If your tenant does not obey the notice, or has not moved out when the notice period ends, you can file a case to evict the tenant.

Do not file your case before the notice period is up. If you file early, the tenant can have the court case dismissed.