service of process

New law aims to improve service of process in condos and gated communities

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sopNew law makes service on condominiums just a bit easier

Hopefully, things just got a bit easier for process servers in eviction cases.  The State of Illinois has passed an amendment to Section 735 ILCS 5/2-203 of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure intended to assist process servers in making access to a “gated residential community”.  The new law requires guards in such a community to permit access to the premises to a process server.  The law defines a “gated residential community” as including “a condominium association, housing cooperative, or private community”.

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Can’t find your tenant? Maybe they are in Jail

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All sorts of difficulties can arise when a landlord cannot find a tenant. One day, I will write on the difficulties of abandonment of property the many issues it creates. In short though, abandonment issues, especially in CRLTO covered tenancies, require more caution than the plain code of the CRLTO might suggest and landlords who mistakenly take back a property that they deem abandoned can find themselves in a real legal mess of wrongful eviction claims. When a tenant can’t be found, a myriad of notice and service issues must be analyzed. One possible explanation for a tenant’s absence is that the tenant might be in jail.  Here are a couple of links where landlords can search to see if their tenants are in jail.

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Proper Service of an Illinois Eviction Notice

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In almost all instances, I advise my clients that an eviction notice, such as a five day notice for nonpayment of rent, be served personally on the tenant.  Personal service means putting the notice in a person’s hands.  Section 9-211 of the Illinois Forcible Entry and Detainer Act provides the law with respect to service of any demand or notice as follows:

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