Understanding Eviction Settlements: Types of Settlement Agreements

A landlord and tenant can settle their eviction case outside of court. There are many benefits to this. It costs less, takes less time, and allows the landlord and tenant to come up with their own solution.

Even if the case is in court already, landlords and tenants can always come to an agreement to avoid having to go to trial for an eviction. There are 2 types of agreements:

• Where the tenant stays, and
• Where the tenant leaves.

These are common settlement options: 

1. Move-Out Agreement: If a tenant offers to move out by a certain date, usually within the next 60 days, the landlord may agree to dismiss the case after the tenant moves out. If the case also claims that the tenant owes rent, then this may not resolve the money claim. In some cases, if the tenant don’t owe much and agree to move quickly the landlord may agree to waive (“dismiss with prejudice”) the rent claim. 
2. Pay and Move: A tenant may have some money to pay part or all of the rent claim but prefer to move and the tenant can resolve the case by offering to pay a certain amount and also agree to move out.  The tenant can also agree to apply for rental assistance to help pay off some or all of the unpaid rent. Make sure the landlord agrees to waive rent claims not paid by rental assistance. Include that waiver in the final written agreement.
3. Pay and Stay Agreement: A tenant agrees to pay the back rent and stay. The landlord can agree to accept a payment plan and dismiss the case once they have received full payment and the balance is $0.  The case may be dismissed for a probationary period while the tenant pays off what is owed in addition to paying the monthly rent. If the tenant is late with payments, they can bring the case back to court and obtain an eviction order and money judgment for the amount still owed. A tenant should ask that the case be dismissed with prejudice once the tenant have paid the agreed amount. The tenant would need to then resume paying rent. 
4. Right to Cure: If a tenant lives in a building that is governed by the Chicago RLTO, then a tenant may have an absolute right to cure and have the case dismissed. A tenant would be required to pay the entire balance plus the court filing fee (about $600) before trial then the case must be dismissed. This is known as the tenants "one-time right to cure." This may require use of rental assistance funds. The tenant MUST offer full payment plus the filing fees before the case goes to trial.

To read about how to negotiate a settlement, visit this link.

To read about how to negotiate a settlement through the Early Resolution Program in Cook County, visit this link. 

If negotiations fail and there is no settlement, then the case will be set for trial.