Eviction | State of Illinois Office of the Illinois Courts
Approved Statewide Forms — Eviction
The Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice has approved the following forms. All Illinois Courts must accept these forms.
Scroll down below the chart for important information on how to fill out these forms, including the need for Adobe and downloading forms to save them properly so that you can electronically file them
Help with rent, legal aid, and mediation services are available
- Emergency rental assistance is still available statewide. Tenants and landlords may apply for unpaid rent and utilities as well as up to three months of future rent payments.
- More information is available at chicookilrenthelp.org/.
- BEFORE an eviction case is started:
- For residents of Chicago, apply for Emergency Rental Assistance Program by visiting chicago.gov or by calling the Homelessness Prevention Call Center at 3-1-1 or 312-744-5000 and asking for “Short-Term Help.”
- For residents in suburban Cook County, apply for Emergency Rental Assistance by visiting hacc.rentrelief.com
- AFTER an eviction case is started and in court:
- Residents of Cook County, including Chicago, may find out more about court-based rental assistance by visiting cookcountylegalaid.org or calling 312-698-0202 (Chicago) or 833-221-9821 (Suburban Cook County).
- Residents in suburban Cook County may apply for Emergency Rental Assistance by visiting: hacc.rentrelief.com
- Residents outside of Cook County may apply for court-based rental assistance by visiting: illinoishousinghelp.org or calling 866-ILHELP1 (866-454-3571) and choosing option #2 to speak with a Court-Based Rental Assistance Agent.
- Free legal aid and mediation services are also available.
- For general information about evictions during this time, visit Illinois Legal Aid Online's Housing issues during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Special Rules Regarding Eviction Cases
- All residential eviction summons must include a notice about Court-Based Rental Assistance in English and in Spanish. Copies of the notice are also available in Polish, Mandarin, Arabic, Korean and Tagalog. Check with your local court because they may have additional or different required information (for example, Cook and Winnebago counties).
- Courts may give parties more time to access rental assistance, legal aid, and mediation and continue any eviction matter for good cause shown.
Eviction Complaint Documents
Illinois Legal Aid Online provides a
guided interview that will ask you a series of questions related to this topic and then the program will complete the forms for you. It is free to use.
Responding to an Eviction Complaint
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All forms are ADA accessible, and you can handwrite or type into the PDF form to fill it out.
IMPORTANT: You will need Adobe Acrobat, or free Adobe Reader XI (or a higher version) in order to save completed forms. You MUST first SAVE/DOWNLOAD each form as a PDF to your computer before you begin. If you fill out a form on a webpage, you will lose your progress.
E-filing: If you are e-filing any of these forms, you will need to "flatten" the form so it cannot be changed after you complete it. You flatten the form in one of two ways:
- If you used Adobe Acrobat or Reader to complete your downloaded form (recommended), go to the "File" menu at the top, select "print", and choose "Adobe PDF" or "Print to PDF" from the dropdown menu. You will be told to save the form. This saved form will be "flattened" and you can e-file it.
- If you did not use Adobe Acrobat or Reader, your computer will select a software that will allow you to fill out the forms. You will need to look for a "Save as PDF" option. Depending on the software you use, this option may be found in the print dialog box under your "Print" menu option.
- Before e-filing any "flattened" form, be sure to open the file to make sure that it looks is filled out.