The most common reason that landlords in DuPage and Cook Counties go to eviction court is because of non-paying tenants. When a tenant falls behind on his or her rent and has no way of catching up, the balance of back rent can become significant. Unfortunately, the longer a landlord waits, the harder it may become to legally evict tenants. The average landlord waits until a tenant is at least three months behind and owes approximately $5,000 in back rent.
Since the timeline for a court hearing can be six months or more, a landlord can conceivably end up with $10,000 to $15,000 in lost income. Landlords should have an absolute “trigger point” at which time appropriate notice is filed on the tenants. Although failure to pay rent is the most common reason for evictions, there are other issues that can trigger a quicker eviction.