Evicting a tenant in DuPage County means following the Illinois Eviction Act through the 18th Judicial Circuit Court in Wheaton. The DuPage County eviction process runs in a fixed order: deliver a written notice, wait for the notice period to expire, file a complaint with the circuit clerk, have the tenant served with a summons, prove your case at a hearing, and use the sheriff to enforce any order of possession. Skip a step or botch the paperwork and the case gets tossed, resetting the clock. Try to shortcut it by changing locks or shutting off utilities, and Illinois law will punish you for it.
Send the Correct Written Notice
Nothing gets filed with the court until the landlord delivers the right notice and the notice period runs out. The type depends on why you want the tenant out, and using the wrong one is one of the fastest ways to lose.
Five-Day Notice for Unpaid Rent
When a tenant falls behind on rent, the landlord serves a five-day notice demanding payment. It must state the amount owed and warn that the lease terminates if the tenant does not pay in full within five days of service.1Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 735 ILCS 5/9-209 – Demand for Rent If the tenant pays every dollar demanded within those five days, the notice is dead and you cannot proceed on it.
Partial payments are trickier. A landlord can include specific language in the notice stating that only full payment will waive the right to terminate. With that language in place, a partial payment that still leaves a balance at day five lets the landlord treat the lease as terminated and file suit.1Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 735 ILCS 5/9-209 – Demand for Rent Without that language, accepting a partial payment can create ambiguity that costs the case.
Ten-Day Notice for Lease Violations
For a breach other than rent, the landlord issues a ten-day notice to quit. It has to describe the specific violation and tell the tenant the tenancy ends if the problem is not corrected within ten days.2Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 735 ILCS 5/9-210 – Notice to Quit Unlike the rent notice, courts have more discretion to weigh whether a lease violation has genuinely been cured.
Thirty-Day Notice to End a Month-to-Month
For a month-to-month tenancy where you want to end things without alleging any fault, Illinois requires a thirty-day written notice.3Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 735 ILCS 5/9-207 – Termination of Tenancy No notice is required when a fixed-term lease expires by its own terms and you do not want to renew. If the tenant stays past that expiration, you can go straight to filing.
Serve the Notice the Right Way
Illinois recognizes three delivery methods. You can hand the notice to the tenant personally, leave it with someone at least 13 years old who lives at the property, or send it by certified or registered mail with a return receipt. If nobody is in possession of the premises, posting it on the property is allowed. Each notice must include the landlord’s name and address, the tenant’s name and address, and a clear description of the leased property.
Whichever method you pick, keep proof. If the tenant challenges service, you will need documentation of when and how delivery happened. Cases get dismissed over sloppy service, and dismissal means restarting the notice period from zero.
File the Eviction Complaint
Once the notice period runs out without a cure or a move-out, you file an eviction complaint with the 18th Judicial Circuit Court. Illinois has a standardized eviction complaint form approved by the Supreme Court that all circuit courts must accept.4Illinois Courts. Eviction Complaint Form DuPage may require additional local information, so check with the circuit clerk before filing.5Office of the Illinois Courts. Eviction Standardized Forms
The complaint asks for the property address, the names of all defendants, the grounds for eviction, and any rent owed. Check the “Unknown Occupants” box if anyone else lives in the unit whose name you do not know; the sheriff will only remove unnamed occupants if that box is checked.4Illinois Courts. Eviction Complaint Form A summons has to be prepared alongside the complaint so the tenant receives official notice of the lawsuit and the court date.
Filings go through the statewide eFileIL system, which DuPage County adopted in 2019.618th Judicial Circuit Court Clerk DuPage County Illinois. DuPage County E-filing Information The complaint and summons upload as separate PDFs. Once the clerk accepts the filing, the system assigns a case number, courtroom, and hearing date.
Fees and Waivers
DuPage County publishes its current fee schedule on the circuit clerk’s website, and extra fees apply if either side demands a jury trial. Amounts change periodically, so pull the current schedule before you file.618th Judicial Circuit Court Clerk DuPage County Illinois. DuPage County E-filing Information If you cannot afford the fees, Illinois offers a sliding-scale fee waiver. You qualify for a full waiver if you receive means-tested benefits like SNAP, TANF, or SSI, or if your income falls at or below 125% of the federal poverty level. Partial waivers of 75%, 50%, and 25% are available at higher income levels up to 200% of the poverty line.
Serve the Summons
After the complaint is filed, the summons has to be formally served on the tenant to give the court jurisdiction. Most landlords use the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office, though the court can authorize a licensed private process server. Whoever serves the papers files a return of service confirming the date, time, and location of delivery. If service fails, you request an alias summons for a later attempt. No hearing can proceed without proof of proper service.
The Eviction Hearing
Hearings take place at the DuPage County Courthouse at 505 North County Farm Road in Wheaton.7Office of the Illinois Courts. 18th Judicial Circuit Court Eviction cases are typically grouped into a morning or afternoon call where a judge hears multiple matters in sequence. The landlord presents evidence: the lease, the notice with proof of service, and documentation of any unpaid rent. Payment ledgers and bank records showing missed deposits carry real weight.
The tenant then responds. The judge may grant a short continuance if either side needs time to gather evidence or consult an attorney. If the landlord proves the case, the court enters a judgment for possession and, where applicable, a money judgment for unpaid rent or damages.
Either party in a residential eviction can demand a jury trial, and any jury waiver buried in the lease is unenforceable under Illinois law.8Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 735 ILCS 5/9-108 – Jury Trial Most residential evictions resolve before a judge alone because a jury demand adds cost and time, but the right exists.
The Mediation Option
The 18th Judicial Circuit runs a free, confidential residential eviction mediation program where a neutral mediator helps landlords and tenants negotiate alternatives to a full eviction. A judge can order the parties into mediation, and if no agreement is reached, the case moves forward on its existing schedule.918th Judicial Circuit Court. Eviction Mediation Program For rent cases in particular, mediation is often where a workable payment plan gets built.
Order of Possession and Sheriff Enforcement
A ruling for the landlord produces an order of possession stating when the tenant must leave. The judge has discretion over how much time to allow. If the tenant does not vacate by that date, take the signed order to the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office Civil Division. Only a sheriff’s deputy can physically remove occupants. Landlords who try to do the removal themselves face serious legal consequences.
The sheriff’s office schedules enforcement based on caseload and coordinates timing with the landlord. Have a locksmith ready for the day of enforcement so the locks can be changed as soon as the deputy clears the unit. One deadline matters: an eviction order expires 120 days after it is entered. If it has not been enforced by then, it is no longer valid unless the court grants an extension.10Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 735 ILCS 5/9-117 – Enforcement of Judgment
What Landlords Cannot Do
Self-help eviction is where landlords get themselves into the most expensive trouble. Illinois prohibits cutting off utility service to force a tenant out. A landlord cannot stop paying utility bills on a master-metered building or tamper with equipment to interrupt service. The only exceptions are genuine emergencies like gas leaks, and temporary shutoffs for building repairs with seven days’ written notice to each tenant.11Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 765 ILCS 735 – Rental Property Utility Service Act
The penalties are steep. A tenant whose utility service is illegally terminated can recover a full abatement of rent for every month the service was out, plus consequential damages like temporary housing costs and spoiled food. If the landlord acted with deliberate indifference or bad faith, statutory damages can be added: up to $300 per affected tenant or $5,000 divided among all affected tenants, whichever is less.11Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 765 ILCS 735 – Rental Property Utility Service Act Changing locks without a court order opens the landlord up to wrongful eviction claims and other tort exposure. The formal process exists precisely so you avoid those liabilities.
Defenses to Anticipate
A tenant’s most straightforward defense is proof of payment, but Illinois recognizes several others. A tenant can argue the property has serious habitability problems that justified withholding rent, or that the landlord failed to follow the notice requirements. Procedural defects in the notice or service are surprisingly common and can result in dismissal.
Retaliation is another defense. Under the Landlord Retaliation Act, a landlord cannot terminate a tenancy, raise rent, or reduce services because a tenant complained to a government agency about code violations, joined a tenants’ organization, requested legally required repairs, or exercised any other right under the law.12Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 765 ILCS 721 – Landlord Retaliation Act A landlord can defeat the claim by proving a legitimate, non-retaliatory basis for the action, but the timing of the eviction relative to the tenant’s protected activity matters enormously.
Sealing an Eviction Record
An eviction filing can follow a tenant for years on background checks, even when the landlord’s case had no merit. Illinois lets courts seal eviction records in certain situations. A judge has discretion to seal the file when the landlord’s case was sufficiently without factual or legal basis that sealing serves the interests of justice. Sealing is mandatory in some situations, including evictions brought under certain condominium conversion provisions and cases dismissed under specific statutory grounds.13Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 735 ILCS 5/9-121 – Sealing of Court File A tenant who won the case or had it dismissed can ask the court to seal the record, and a sealed file will not appear on standard tenant screening reports.