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Illinois · 735 Ill. Comp. Stat. § 5/9-209

Illinois 5-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit

Fill in the facts once. RentDemand computes the 5-day period from your service date, warns you about the Illinois traps below, and hands you a print-ready document with a proof of service.

5 day period0 days added for mail735 Ill. Comp. Stat. § 5/9-209
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Who and where

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Money owed

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The violation

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Grounds

An unconditional notice offers no chance to fix the problem, and is only available for conduct that cannot be cured — nuisance, waste, illegal activity, or a repeat of a breach already cured. If the tenant could fix it, use Cure or Quit instead.
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Ending the tenancy

This is a no-cause termination. Many cities require just cause, and some require relocation assistance. Verify locally before serving.
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The increase

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The visit

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The deposit

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Where to send your notice

We email the finished notice here as soon as it is paid for, so you still have it if you close this page. Paying by card collects it automatically — this is only needed if you pay another way.

Illinois 5-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit: what the statute actually requires

Five days notice to pay rent or vacate. In Chicago the Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance imposes additional requirements alongside this notice.

5
days, statutory default
0
days added if served by mail
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no statutory hour period

Authority: 735 Ill. Comp. Stat. § 5/9-209 — read the Illinois code

Where Illinois landlords get this wrong

Local rules that sit on top of Illinois law

A notice that is perfect under the state statute still fails if it ignores the city. These are the jurisdictions with material local overlays for this kind of notice.

Chicago
The Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance requires the RLTO summary and radon disclosure attached to the notice, imposes 30/60/120-day nonrenewal notice by length of occupancy, and gives a 2-day entry notice. A notice without the summary attached is defective.

A Illinois 5-day notice to pay rent or quit, as generated

This is the real document, filled with sample details. Change the state and the facts above and it becomes yours.

FIVE-DAY NOTICE TO PAY RENT OR QUIT
Illinois · 735 Ill. Comp. Stat. § 5/9-209
Notice period ends: September 29, 2026
TO
Devon A. Ruiz and Jordan Ruiz
and all others in possession of
4421 Cedar Ave, 4B
Sample City, IL, 00000

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that rent for the premises described above is past due and unpaid. The amount now due and owing is itemized as follows:

Rent for the period 09/01/2026 through 09/30/2026$1,850.00
Late fee$75.00
TOTAL DUE$1,925.00

YOU ARE HEREBY REQUIRED, within FIVE (5) days after service of this notice upon you, to pay the full amount stated above, or to quit and surrender possession of the premises to the undersigned.

Payment must be made to Marisol Vega by cashier's check or money order delivered to the address above. Payment of the amount due within the time stated will cure this default.

If you fail to pay the amount due or to vacate the premises within the time stated, the undersigned will institute legal proceedings against you to recover possession of the premises, together with damages, costs of suit, and such other relief as the court may allow.

This notice is given pursuant to 735 Ill. Comp. Stat. § 5/9-209.

Marisol Vega
1180 Fulton St, Illinois 00000
(555) 555-0148 · you@example.com
Landlord / Owner / Authorized Agent
Dated: September 24, 2026
PROOF OF SERVICE

I declare that on September 24, 2026, I served the foregoing notice on the tenant(s) named above by the method indicated below:

☐  Personal delivery to the tenant.
☐  Substituted service — delivered to a person of suitable age and discretion at the premises, and a copy sent by first-class mail addressed to the tenant at the premises.
☐  Posting a copy in a conspicuous place on the premises, and sending a copy by first-class mail addressed to the tenant at the premises.
☐  Service by mail.

The notice period begins the day after service and expires on September 29, 2026.

Signature of person serving notice
Date
Drafting note — read before serving

Five days notice to pay rent or vacate. In Chicago the Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance imposes additional requirements alongside this notice.

Generated by RentDemand · Illinois · 735 Ill. Comp. Stat. § 5/9-209 · September 24, 2026
RentDemand is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. This document is a self-help template. Verify the current statute and any local ordinance, and consult a licensed attorney in Illinois before serving.

Common questions

How long is the notice period for a 5-day notice to pay rent or quit in Illinois?
5 days, under 735 Ill. Comp. Stat. § 5/9-209. Five days notice to pay rent or vacate. In Chicago the Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance imposes additional requirements alongside this notice.
Does service by mail change the Illinois notice period?
Illinois does not add days for service by mail, but the notice must still be served by a method the statute allows.
Can the rental agreement change the Illinois notice period?
A lease can lengthen a cure period, and where it does, the longer period controls. Enter your lease's period in the generator and the deadline is recomputed for you. A lease cannot shorten a period the statute sets.
Is this Illinois 5-day notice to pay rent or quit legally binding?
RentDemand generates a self-help document from the statute cited on its face. It is not legal advice and it is not a substitute for a lawyer in Illinois, particularly if the tenancy is contested or the unit is covered by a local ordinance.

Other Illinois notices

Cure or QuitUnconditional QuitTerminate / Non-RenewalRent IncreaseNotice of EntryDeposit Itemization

Everything for Illinois →

A 5-day notice to pay rent or quit in every other state

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Questions landlords ask at 11pm

Is this legal advice?
No. RentDemand is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. It assembles a self-help document from the statute shown on the notice and computes your deadline. For anything contested, hire a lawyer in your state — the notice you generate here is the document you hand them.
How is this different from a free template?
A free template gives you the same paragraph in every state with blank day counts. RentDemand knows that a Florida pay-or-quit skips weekends and holidays, that Virginia gives 21 days to cure but only 5 to pay, that North Carolina terminates a month-to-month tenancy in 7 days, and that Georgia has no cure period at all. It also computes the actual date the period ends.
What if my lease sets a different period?
Change the number. The notice period field is pre-filled with the statutory default and is yours to edit — a lease can lengthen a cure period, and the longer period then controls.
Do I get a PDF?
You get a print-ready document with correct 8.5×11 pagination. Click Unlock and your browser's print dialog opens; choose Save as PDF. That gives you a cleaner file than most generators produce, because the browser does the typesetting.
What if I serve it wrong?
Service is where these notices fail. Every document includes a proof-of-service block with the recognised methods for your state, and the day-of-service exclusion is already built into the deadline. If you serve by mail, tick the box and the mailing extension is added automatically.