The Chicago 5-Day Notice: How It Works, the Cure Right, and the Mistakes That Restart the Clock

The 5-Day Notice is the required first step in every Chicago nonpayment eviction, and it's where most cases are won or lost before anyone sees a courtroom. The notice gives the tenant five days to pay the rent owed or face termination of the tenancy. Simple in concept — but the cure rules run longer than five days, and a defective notice sends you back to square one. Here's how it actually works.

What the Notice Does

If rent is unpaid, you serve a written 5-Day Notice demanding the rent and stating your intent to terminate if it isn't paid within five days. If the tenant pays the full amount within those five days, the matter is resolved and the tenancy continues. If they don't, you can file an eviction action in the Circuit Court of Cook County.

The amount demanded has to be accurate — and this is the first trap. If you overstate what's owed (for example, by rolling in an inflated late fee or charges the RLTO doesn't permit in the demand), the notice can be defective. A defective notice gets the eventual eviction dismissed, and you start the entire process over while the tenant stays put. Getting the number exactly right is not optional.

What a Chicago 5-Day Notice Template Has to Include

Illinois doesn't require a special printed form. Any written notice works if it contains what 735 ILCS 5/9-209 requires. Whatever template is used, check it against this list before serving. Some items come straight from the statute; the rest are what courts and eviction forms commonly expect.

• The tenant's name. Every tenant on the lease, spelled the way the lease spells it.
• The rental unit. The full street address, including the unit or apartment number.
• The exact amount of rent due. Rent only. The statute's demand is for rent; adding late fees, utilities or other charges to the amount demanded can give the tenant grounds to challenge the notice.
• The 5-day demand. A statement that unless the rent is paid within 5 days after service, the lease will be terminated.
• The required full-payment sentence. The notice must prominently state: “Only FULL PAYMENT of the rent demanded in this notice will waive the landlord's right to terminate the lease under this notice, unless the landlord agrees in writing to continue the lease in exchange for receiving partial payment.”
• A signature and date. Signed by the landlord or the landlord's agent.
• A record of service. How and when it was served (handed to the tenant, left with someone 13 or older living at the unit, sent by certified or registered mail with a returned receipt from the tenant, or posted on the premises if no one is in actual possession). If the case goes to court, the landlord has to prove how the notice was served.

The steps after a notice expires are in what to do when a tenant hasn't paid rent.

Where to Get the Official Free 5-Day Notice Form

The Illinois Supreme Court publishes a free, court-approved 5-day notice to pay rent. It's called the Notice of Termination for Non-Payment of Rent (PDF), and the form itself notes it's "commonly called a 5-Day Notice." It already includes the required full-payment sentence and lets the landlord give more than 5 days if the lease or the law requires it. After serving it, the person who served it fills out the court's Affidavit of Service of a Demand or Notice (PDF), which is attached to the eviction complaint if the case goes to court. Both forms, along with the rest of the statewide eviction forms, are on the Illinois Courts eviction forms page.

Does a 5-day notice have to be notarized in Illinois? No. Neither 735 ILCS 5/9-209 nor the court-approved form calls for a notary. The notice is signed by the landlord or the landlord's agent, and the Affidavit of Service is signed under a perjury certification (735 ILCS 5/1-109) instead of in front of a notary.

The official form is free to fill in. DwellerIQ's notice generator is the paid option that fills it in for a specific property and amount.

The Cure Right Runs Longer Than Five Days

Here's what surprises landlords: the tenant's ability to cure doesn't end when the five days expire. Under § 5-12-130, a Chicago tenant has a one-time right to pay all unpaid rent — plus the landlord's court filing fees and service costs (but not attorney's fees) — at any point before the court enters an order of possession. If they pay that amount, even after you've filed and you're in court, the eviction stops and they stay.

So the "5 days" in the notice is the window before you can file, not a hard deadline after which the tenant is out. Practically, a paying tenant can reinstate themselves well into the court process. Landlords who expect that nonpayment plus five days equals a guaranteed removal are often surprised when the tenant cures on the courthouse steps.

The Second-Nonpayment Wrinkle

The cure right is generous, but not unlimited. On a second nonpayment within a twelve-month period, the tenant still gets a 5-Day Notice, but the right to cure becomes more limited. The ordinance recognizes a pattern differently than a one-time lapse. This matters for landlords dealing with a chronically late tenant — the second time within a year is a different legal posture than the first.

Service Is Its Own Trap

How you serve the notice matters as much as what it says. The notice has to reach the tenant properly, and in Chicago and Cook County, hand-service is the reliable method. A notice slid under a door without proper service, or sent in a way that can't be proven, gives the tenant grounds to challenge service — and if you can't establish proper service, the case doesn't move forward.

Document everything: the date served, the method, the amount demanded, and how the five days were counted. In a contested case, that record is what carries you.

Where This Sits in the Bigger Process

The 5-Day Notice is step one. After it expires unpaid, you file; then there's a court date, a hearing, a judgment, and — only if you win — a Writ of Possession enforced by the sheriff. The full sequence is in evicting a Chicago tenant for nonpayment, and the connection between fee accuracy and notice validity is covered in the late fee rules. For a specific notice, DwellerIQ can confirm the amount and service approach before you serve it — because a defective 5-Day Notice is the single most common way Chicago nonpayment cases collapse.

Key Takeaways

• A written 5-Day Notice is required to start every Chicago nonpayment eviction; the tenant can cure by paying in full within five days
• The demanded amount must be accurate — an overstated notice (e.g., inflated late fees) can be defective and get the case dismissed
• The cure right runs longer than five days: the tenant can pay all rent plus court filing/service costs any time before the court orders possession
• On a second nonpayment within twelve months, the tenant's cure right becomes more limited
• Service matters — hand-service is the reliable method in Chicago/Cook County, and improper service can sink the case
• A defective 5-Day Notice means starting the entire eviction over while the tenant remains in the unit