The eviction process in Skokie: what has to happen before anyone can make you leave
In Skokie, an eviction is a court process from start to finish: a written notice with a built-in chance to fix the problem, then a case in the Circuit Court of Cook County, then — only if the landlord wins — enforcement by the Cook County Sheriff. The Cook County Residential Tenant and Landlord Ordinance layers cure rights on top of the state Eviction Act, and its lockout ban reaches most, though not all, of the units the rest of the ordinance excludes. Every rule below quotes its source: the state statute, the ordinance text the county posts (dated January 2021), the Sheriff's own tenant guide and the court's evictions page.
What this page is: the rules an eviction in Skokie must follow, each linked to its official source, plus what the money side looks like at today's actual Skokie rents. It is not legal advice — an eviction case moves fast, so if one has started, use the free legal help on our tenant rights page now, not after the court date.
Lockouts: what Sec. 42-813 forbids, the four things it does not reach, and who it covers
The ordinance's lockout section says a landlord, “or any person acting at the direction of the landlord, shall not oust or dispossess, or threaten or attempt to oust or dispossess, any tenant from a dwelling unit without authority of law” — and then lists the ways: “by plugging, changing, adding or removing any lock or latching device; or by blocking any entrance into said dwelling unit; or by removing any door or window from said dwelling unit; or by interfering with the services to the dwelling unit, including but not limited to electricity, gas, hot or cold water, plumbing, heat, telephone service, or internet; or by removing a tenant's personal property from said dwelling unit”, down to “the use or threat of force” and “any act rendering a dwelling unit or any part thereof, or any personal property located therein, inaccessible or uninhabitable.” Then come the words this page used to leave out — “The foregoing shall not apply where” — followed by four situations: a landlord who “acts in compliance with the eviction laws of Illinois pertaining to forcible entry and detainer and engages the Sheriff of Cook County to forcibly evict a tenant”; one who “interferes temporarily with possession only as necessary to make needed repairs or inspection and only as provided by law”; the state's distress-for-rent procedure for removing personal property (735 ILCS 5/9-301 and following); and a unit the tenant “has abandoned the dwelling unit, as prescribed in section 42-809(B)(2)” — which under that paragraph means written notice that you will not return, or 32 days' absence (one rental period, for a lease shorter than a month) with your belongings gone and the rent unpaid. As for who is protected: the county's summary says the section “applies to every residential rental unit. There are no exceptions.” The ordinance is narrower. Sec. 42-802(C) says the prohibition “applies to all dwelling units in Cook County that are otherwise excluded by paragraphs 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8” of the exclusions — owner-occupied buildings of six units or fewer, the single-family and condo exclusion, employee housing, contract purchasers, and long-stay hotel and rooming-house units — but not paragraphs 1, 2 and 4: transient hotel guests; residents of care facilities, shelters, dormitories and religious institutions; and co-op shareholders. An ordinary Skokie apartment, two-flat or rented condo is covered either way. Source: Cook County RTLO — ordinance text as posted by the county (PDF, dated January 2021), Sec. 42-813(A), Sec. 42-802(C), Sec. 42-809(B)(2) · Cook County RTLO — the county's plain-language summary (PDF, May 2021)
The penalty for a lockout: possession back, plus “not more than two (2) months' rent or twice the actual damages”
Sec. 42-813(B): if a tenant “in a civil legal proceeding against the landlord, establishes that the landlord has violated section 42-813, the tenant shall be entitled to recover possession of the dwelling unit and personal property. In addition, the tenant shall recover an amount equal to not more than two (2) months' rent or twice the actual damages sustained by the tenant, whichever is greater, and reasonable attorney's fees.” Two months of the average Skokie rent is $4,722 today (the average is $2,361; the table below prices one, two and three months). The sentence reads two ways — “not more than” is a cap, “whichever is greater” a floor — and this page has read no court decision choosing between them, so it does not call the figure a minimum. The county's summary states the same remedy as “twice the actual damages or 2 months' rent, whichever is greater” and leaves the words “not more than” out. Source: Cook County RTLO — ordinance text as posted by the county (PDF, dated January 2021), Sec. 42-813(B) · Cook County RTLO — the county's plain-language summary (PDF, May 2021)
Only the Sheriff can put you out — and what the Sheriff's own guide says about how that day arrives
The lockout section's first exception is a landlord who “engages the Sheriff of Cook County to forcibly evict a tenant” under the state eviction law; there is no second route. The Sheriff's tenant guide says it plainly: “Illinois law requires the Cook County Sheriff to enforce evictions in Cook County. The only entity that may evict you from your residence is the Cook County Sheriff.” The sequence it describes: the landlord wins an order for possession, waits out any stay the court set, and files the order with the Sheriff; “ENFORCEMENT MAY OCCUR AS SOON AS 24 HOURS AFTER AN ORDER HAS BEEN PLACED WITH THE SHERIFF'S EVICTIONS OFFICE.” You get one letter, to the address on the order, saying the eviction is on the schedule — “THIS WILL BE THE ONLY NOTIFICATION THAT YOU WILL RECEIVE FROM THE COOK COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE REGARDING YOUR SCHEDULED EVICTION” — and no date: “Tenants/defendants are not provided with the date or time for when the eviction will take place due to officer safety concerns.” On the day, uniformed deputies “will knock and announce their office” and may force entry under the order; they remove the people named, hand possession to the landlord and post a no-trespassing order. What this page used to say — that Sheriff's staff handle the move-out itself — was wrong: “THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE DOES NOT REMOVE OR SECURE A TENANT'S/DEFENDANT'S PERSONAL PROPERTY AND IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR EITHER.” Belongings are between you and the landlord, and the guide says the locks will likely be changed. Two more things from the texts: an order has a shelf life — “No eviction order obtained in an action brought under this Article may be enforced more than 120 days after the order is entered, unless upon motion by the plaintiff the court grants an extension of the period of enforcement of the order” (735 ILCS 5/9-117) — and anyone claiming to be the Sheriff can be checked: the guide gives 312-603-3714 to confirm “whether we have received an eviction order, the case number, what documentation is from our office, and the date the order was entered.” Source: Cook County Sheriff — Eviction Procedure, Tenant's Guide · 735 ILCS 5/9-117 · Cook County RTLO — ordinance text as posted by the county (PDF, dated January 2021), Sec. 42-813(A)(1)
Nonpayment: a written 5-day notice — full payment inside it keeps the lease
State law: a landlord “may, any time after rent is due, demand payment thereof and notify the tenant, in writing, that unless payment is made within a time mentioned in such notice, not less than 5 days after service thereof, the lease will be terminated.” If the rent is not paid in that time the landlord “may consider the lease ended and commence an eviction or ejectment action without further notice or demand.” Paying part of it is not enough unless the landlord agrees in writing — the statute dictates the warning the notice must carry: “Only FULL PAYMENT of the rent demanded in this notice will waive the landlord's right to terminate the lease under this notice, unless the landlord agrees in writing to continue the lease in exchange for receiving partial payment.” (735 ILCS 5/9-209.) The ordinance's version, Sec. 42-809(A)(1), runs the same way — a written notice “of the landlord's intention to terminate the rental agreement”, served “in compliance with state law”, and “If the tenant does not materially comply with the written notice within five (5) days of receipt, the landlord may file an eviction action to terminate the rental agreement” — and adds, in (A)(3), that a landlord “may also maintain an action for rent and/or damages without terminating the rental agreement”, so a suit for the money is not always a suit for the apartment. One more sentence of the ordinance works in the tenant's favour, Sec. 42-809(C)(1)(a): “If the landlord accepts rent, including holding payment, knowing that it alleges a lease violation, including a default in the payment of rent by the tenant, the landlord waives the right to terminate the rental agreement for that breach.” Source: 735 ILCS 5/9-209 · Cook County RTLO — ordinance text as posted by the county (PDF, dated January 2021), Sec. 42-809(A), Sec. 42-809(C)(1)(a)
After the case is filed: the one-time right to pay and stay, Sec. 42-805(F)
This is the right the state statute does not give and the ordinance does. “At any time prior to the issuance of any order of possession or eviction order” the tenant “has a one-time right to cure the non-payment of rent by paying the landlord unpaid rent, duly owed from the date of non-payment to the date of payment, together with all filing fees and costs paid by the landlord and all fees and costs expended by the landlord for service of process, but not including attorney fees. If the tenant so pays, then the Court shall vacate any order of possession or eviction order and dismiss the case.” And if the landlord will not say what the total is: “If the landlord refuses to provide a total amount due, the tenant may cure by making a good faith payment of the amount that the tenant believes to be due.” Three limits are in the words: once (“one-time”); rent plus the landlord's court and service costs but not the landlord's lawyer; and before the order of possession issues — though the section's second sentence then speaks of vacating an order already entered, a tension this page notes and does not resolve. The county's summary agrees on the once-only rule: a tenant can pay and stay and “cause the landlord to dismiss a court case 1 time.” Source: Cook County RTLO — ordinance text as posted by the county (PDF, dated January 2021), Sec. 42-805(F) · Cook County RTLO — the county's plain-language summary (PDF, May 2021)
Lease violations: a 10-day notice — and the ordinance's right to cure that the statute leaves out
The state section is short. “When default is made in any of the terms of a lease, it is not necessary to give more than 10 days' notice to quit, or of the termination of such tenancy” (735 ILCS 5/9-210); its model form tells the tenant “I have elected to terminate your lease, and you are hereby notified to quit and deliver up possession of the same to me within 10 days of this date”. Nothing in it says the tenancy survives if the problem is fixed. The ordinance's Sec. 42-809(B)(1) does. The landlord's written notice must specify “the acts and omissions constituting the alleged breach”; it “may provide that the rental agreement will terminate upon a date no less than 10 days after the date of the written notice”; and “The tenant shall have the amount of time specified in the written notice to remedy any alleged breach by the tenant prior to the date of termination. If the breach is not remedied, the landlord may file an eviction to terminate the rental agreement, as provided in the written notice.” The notice also expires: “If the landlord does not file an eviction action within 30 days after the notification of termination or the end of the next rental period, whichever is longer, then the landlord's written notice shall be deemed withdrawn and the rental agreement shall remain in full force and effect.” The county's summary applies that 30-day rule to a 5-day notice as well; the ordinance's words put it in the lease-violation paragraph only, and this page does not extend it to nonpayment on the summary's say-so. Both cure rights — the 10 days here and pay-and-stay above — stop at the ordinance's exclusions, listed in the last section. Source: 735 ILCS 5/9-210 · Cook County RTLO — ordinance text as posted by the county (PDF, dated January 2021), Sec. 42-809(B)(1) · Cook County RTLO — the county's plain-language summary (PDF, May 2021)
No-fault endings: 30 days by statute, 60 days under the ordinance — and 120 if the 60 are missed
State law lets a landlord end a tenancy “in all cases of tenancy for any term less than one year, other than tenancy from week to week, where the tenant holds over without special agreement” by “30 days' notice, in writing” (735 ILCS 5/9-207(b); a week-to-week tenancy needs 7 days). For a covered Skokie rental the ordinance lengthens that. Sec. 42-809(C)(2)(b): “The landlord shall notify the tenant in writing at least 60 days prior to the stated termination date of the rental agreement of the landlord's intent to terminate a month-to-month tenancy or not renew an existing rental agreement. If the landlord fails to give required written notice, the tenant may remain in the dwelling unit for up to 120 days after the date on which such required written notice is given to the tenant, regardless of the date specified in the existing rental agreement. During such occupancy, the terms and conditions of the tenancy shall be the same as the terms and conditions during the last month of tenancy.” The paragraph before it protects the other direction: “No tenant shall be required to renew a rental agreement more than 60 days prior to the termination date of the rental agreement”, on pain of “one (1) month's rent or actual damages, whichever is greater.” A tenant who stays past a valid notice still cannot be removed without a case. For Skokie that case is in the Circuit Court's Second Municipal District, whose evictions page says “Eviction actions in the Second Municipal District are heard in Courtroom 204 of the Skokie Courthouse every Friday at 9 a.m.” — the courthouse at 5600 Old Orchard Road, as the court's pages read when this page was last checked. Source: 735 ILCS 5/9-207 · Cook County RTLO — ordinance text as posted by the county (PDF, dated January 2021), Sec. 42-809(C)(2) · Circuit Court of Cook County — evictions · Circuit Court of Cook County — Second Municipal District (Skokie)
Sealing an eviction file: when a court may, and when it must
An eviction filing is a public court record even if the tenant wins. Under 735 ILCS 5/9-121(b), “The court may order that a court file in an eviction action be placed under seal if the court finds that the plaintiff's action is sufficiently without a basis in fact or law, which may include a lack of jurisdiction, that placing the court file under seal is clearly in the interests of justice, and that those interests are not outweighed by the public's interest in knowing about the record.” Sealing is mandatory under (c) for three kinds of case: an action brought under Section 9-207.5 (a lease ended because the building is in foreclosure), one under subdivision (h)(6) of Section 15-1701 (the foreclosure article), and one “that has been dismissed under Section 9-106” — which, since January 1, 2026, is what happens to a complaint that names a child: “A complaint that names a defendant who is a minor at the time of filing shall be dismissed in its entirety against all defendants. Any action dismissed under this Section shall be immediately sealed under Section 9-121.” In an ordinary case the seal is discretionary and not automatic, so a tenant whose meritless case is dismissed has to ask for it before the case closes. What a sealed file does for tenant-screening reports is not something these sections say, and what a screening company copied before the seal is outside them. Source: 735 ILCS 5/9-121 · 735 ILCS 5/9-106 · 735 ILCS 5/9-207.5
Where the ordinance's cure rights stop — and where the lockout ban still reaches
Sec. 42-802(A) lists eight arrangements “not governed by this Article”. Two matter most in Skokie. Paragraph 6: “Residential buildings in which occupancy is limited to six (6) units or less and which are owner-occupied”. Paragraph 7: “A residential unit that is a single-family home, including a single condominium unit”, but only when all four conditions hold — “This is the only residential unit leased by the owner”, “The owner or immediate family member has actually resided at the property for at least one (1) month in the 12 months prior to marketing the property”, “The owner (not a management company) personally manages the unit”, and “The owner is not a corporation”. In those units the 10-day cure right, pay-and-stay and the 60/120-day rule above are not the ordinance's to give; the state notices still apply, and this page has not found a state statute that supplies the same cure rights there. The lockout ban is different: by Sec. 42-802(C) it reaches both of these groups. An excluded owner must say so — “the owner shall make this exclusion known to prospective tenants in marketing materials and shall prominently state the exclusion on any application materials before the owner accepts any application fees, credit check fees, or holding fees” (42-802(B)) — and “A landlord shall not create a rental agreement in the form of an excluded agreement to avoid the application of this Article” (42-802(D)). Source: Cook County RTLO — ordinance text as posted by the county (PDF, dated January 2021), Sec. 42-802(A)(6), (A)(7), (B), (C), (D)
Correction, October 6, 2026: until today this page said the lockout ban “applies to every rental in the county, no exceptions” in its opening, “banned, no exceptions” in its first heading, and “banned with no exceptions” in the homepage teaser. That was the county summary's sentence, not the ordinance's: Sec. 42-813 itself lists four situations it does not reach, and Sec. 42-802(C) extends it to five of the eight excluded categories, not all eight. The page also said Sheriff's staff “handle the move-out itself”; the Sheriff's guide says the opposite about belongings — the office “DOES NOT REMOVE OR SECURE A TENANT'S/DEFENDANT'S PERSONAL PROPERTY”. And the page never quoted the lockout penalty, the one-time pay-and-stay right, or the 30-day expiry of a 10-day notice. Every section now quotes its text. The 5-day, 10-day and 60/120-day figures did not change.
The money while the clock runs, at today's Skokie rent
The average Skokie rent is $2,361/month as of August 2026 (how we compute this). Falling behind compounds monthly, so the arrears a nonpayment notice demands — and what curing it costs — scale like this for a typical unit:
| Behind by | Rent owed at the Skokie average |
|---|---|
| 1 month | $2,361 |
| 2 months | $4,722 |
| 3 months | $7,083 |
Full payment of everything the 5-day notice demands, inside the 5 days, keeps your lease; a partial payment keeps it only if the landlord agrees in writing (735 ILCS 5/9-209). In a covered unit, Sec. 42-805(F) then gives one more chance after the case is filed — unpaid rent plus the landlord's filing and service costs, not attorney fees, once, before an order of possession issues (quoted above).
The lockout remedy at today's average: Sec. 42-813(B) sets it at “not more than two (2) months' rent or twice the actual damages sustained by the tenant, whichever is greater, and reasonable attorney's fees” — two months of the $2,361 average is $4,722. Whether that is a ceiling or a floor is discussed above; this page does not call it a minimum.
Honest caveat: these are smoothed market averages (Zillow's ZORI index — methodology), not your lease. Notices, cure amounts, and penalties run off your actual rent — the table just shows the scale at typical Skokie rents.
Before it gets to court
Most evictions start as money problems, and those have earlier exits: what your ZIP actually rents for if moving is on the table (60077, 60076); whether the rent itself is the problem — our income-to-rent page shows what Skokie rents demand of a budget; what a landlord can lawfully charge while rent is late — the late-fee and grace-period rules are their own law, separate from the notice clocks above; whether the unit's condition is the real leverage — the repair and habitability rules are what turn certified violations into defenses and deductions; whether a raise you can't absorb followed the rules for rent increases; and if the tenancy is ending anyway, the deposit rules for getting your money back on the way out. Our rental-assistance page lists the programs that pay at exactly the notice-to-quit stage — what each one covers, the income lines in real dollars, and the phone numbers. And if leaving on your own terms beats fighting, here's what breaking a lease actually costs — and the legal exits that cap it.
First published · Page last updated · rent index data through August 2026.
Get the Skokie rent report, monthly
One email when the numbers update: average rent, what moved, and which ZIPs changed. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.