Illinois Lease Ending and Nonrenewal: Statewide, Chicago, and Cook County Notice Rules
Illinois does not use one universal nonrenewal period. The answer depends on the tenancy type, the written lease, the actual end date, and whether Chicago or the Cook County Residential Tenant Landlord Ordinance applies. A 2026 Chicago pilot can require even longer notice in part of the city.
General legal information only. Local ordinances and specialized housing rules can change the result.
Use the Illinois next-step toolWhat to do first
- 1Identify fixed-term versus periodic tenancy and the actual lease or rental-year end date when one exists.
- 2Read any renewal or nonrenewal clause in the written lease.
- 3For statewide week-to-week tenancies, §9-207(a) uses 7 days.
- 4For statewide periodic tenancies under a year other than week-to-week, §9-207(b) uses 30 days.
- 5For statewide year-to-year tenancies, §9-205 uses a 60-day framework tied to the end of the rental year and includes a specific notice-window provision. Do not reduce it to service date plus 60 days.
- 6If the property is in Chicago, determine whether the ordinary citywide fair-notice rule or the Jackson Park Expanded Fair Notice Pilot applies before serving a nonrenewal notice.
Statewide Illinois rules
735 ILCS 5/9-205 provides the year-to-year termination framework and ties the notice to the end of the rental year rather than creating a generic service-date-plus-60-days expiration.
735 ILCS 5/9-207(a) uses 7 days for week-to-week holdover tenancies.
735 ILCS 5/9-207(b) uses 30 days for periodic tenancies under one year other than week-to-week.
A fixed-term written lease can have its own renewal and advance-notice provisions, so the actual lease end date and the lease language matter.
Chicago and Cook County can change the answer
Chicago Municipal Code §5-12-130(j) ordinarily uses 30, 60, or 120 days depending on tenancy length and measures the notice against the stated termination date.
Chicago Municipal Code §5-12-135 creates the Jackson Park Expanded Fair Notice Pilot in a defined South Side area. For covered leases in the current 2026 code, the pilot supersedes the ordinary citywide rule and uses 90, 120, or 180 days depending on tenancy length.
The Cook County RTLO generally requires 60 days' written notice for nonrenewal of covered residential tenancies. Coverage exceptions still need to be considered.
Related Illinois landlord paths
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