(765 ILCS 705/16) Sec. 16. Military personnel in military service; right to terminate lease. (a) In this Section: "Military service" means any full-time training or duty, no matter how described under federal or State law, for which a service member is ordered to report by the President, Governor of a state, commonwealth, or territory of the United States, or other appropriate military authority. "Service member" means a resident of Illinois who is a member of any component of the U.S. Armed Forces or the National Guard of any state, the District of Columbia, a commonwealth, or a territory of the United States. (b) A tenant who is a service member that has entered military service for a period greater than 29 consecutive days or any member of the tenant's family who resides with the tenant at the leased premises may terminate a lease for a mobile home lot, residential premises, non-residential premises, or farm or agricultural real property if the tenant enters military service for greater than 29 consecutive days after executing the lease or the tenant, while in military service, receives military orders for a permanent change of station or to deploy with a military unit or as an individual in support of a military operation for a period of not less than 90 days, regardless of whether the lease was signed before or during military service. This provision applies to leases executed on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly. (c) In order to exercise the right to terminate the lease granted to a service member under this Section, a service member or a member of the service member's family who resides with the service member at the leased premises must provide the landlord or mobile home park operator with a copy of the orders calling the service member to military service in excess of 29 consecutive days and of any orders further extending the service member's period of service. (d) Termination of the lease is effective 30 days after the delivery of the notice to the landlord, except that if rent is paid in monthly installments the termination is effective 30 days after the next rental payment due date after the date of the notice to the landlord. If any rent payment was made in advance, the landlord must return any unearned portion and the landlord must return any security deposit paid, except to the extent that there are actual damages or repairs to be paid from the security deposit as provided in the lease agreement. (e) A landlord's failure to accept a service member's termination of a lease that is effected pursuant to this Section imposed by this Section constitutes a civil rights violation under the Illinois Human Rights Act. All proceeds from the collection of any civil penalty
imposed under this subsection shall be deposited into the Illinois Military Family Relief Fund.
(Source: P.A. 97-913, eff. 1-1-13.) |