The Illinois Appellate Court of Illinois in a new case, Figuero v. Deacon, has clarified the law with respect to the service of a notice of termination of tenancy when a tenant is in actual possession of a premises.
735 ILCS 5/9-211 provides the rules related to service of demand or notice for an eviction as follows: "Any demand may be made or notice served by delivering a written or printed, or partly written and printed, copy thereof to the tenant, or by leaving the same with some person of the age of 13 years or upwards, residing on or in possession of the premises; or by sending a copy of the notice to the tenant by certified or registered mail, with a returned receipt from the addressee; and in case no one is in the actual possession of the premises, then by posting the same on the premises.”
The court determined that the list of methods for service of process are exhaustive and, as the forcible entry and detainer action (eviction) is a special statutory proceeding that is in derogation of the common law, the statute must be strictly enforced. Factually, the landlord did not deliver a copy of the termination notice to the tenant but instead posted the notice on the door and slid another copy under the door. To proceed with the case would violate the tenant's due process rights. As a properly served notice of termination is jurisdictional, the case could not proceed.
Landlords would be well advised to serve notice either through personal service or certified mail (with certified mail having the additional difficulty of requiring proof of delivery) when processing an eviction of their tenants.
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