Article IX. Eviction · Part 2. Recovery of Rent; · Not amended since adoption on record · Last verified July 20, 2026
In one sentenceSection 9-201 lets a landowner sue for unpaid rent, or for a reasonable payment for another's use of the property, in five situations ranging from holdover life tenants to buyers at a judicial or mortgage sale.
Full Text of 735 ILCS 5/9-201
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The owner of lands, his or her executors or administrators, may sue for and recover rent therefor, or a fair and reasonable satisfaction for the use and occupation thereof, by a civil action in any of the following instances: 1. When rent is due and in arrears on a lease for life or lives.
2. When lands are held and occupied by any person without any special agreement for rent. 3. When possession is obtained under an agreement, written or verbal, for the purchase of the premises, and before a deed is given the right to possession is terminated by forfeiture or non-compliance with the agreement, and possession is wrongfully refused or neglected to be given upon demand, made in writing, by the party entitled thereto. All payments made by the vendee, or his or her representatives or assigns, may be set off against such rent.
4. When land has been sold upon a judgment of court, when the party to such judgment or person holding under him or her, wrongfully refuses or neglects to surrender possession of the same, after demand, in writing, by the person entitled to the possession.
5. When the lands have been sold upon a mortgage or trust deed, and the mortgagor or grantor, or person holding under him or her, wrongfully refuses or neglects to surrender possession of the same, after demand, in writing, by the person entitled to the possession.
Plain-English Summary
Section 9-201 opens Part 2 of the eviction article with a broad money remedy: a landowner, or that owner's executor or administrator, can sue for rent even without a lease that spells out the occupant's duty to pay. The claim can be for rent that is due, or for a fair payment for someone's use and occupation of the land when no formal rent was ever agreed.
The section lists five instances where the remedy applies. The first covers rent in arrears on a lease for life. The second reaches anyone who holds and occupies land without any special rent agreement at all. The third covers a buyer under a purchase agreement whose right to possession is cut off by forfeiture or default before a deed changes hands, and who then refuses to give up possession after a written demand; here the statute lets the buyer set off payments already made against the rent claimed. The fourth and fifth cover land sold at a judgment sale or under a mortgage or trust deed, where the prior party, or someone holding under that party, wrongfully refuses to surrender possession after written demand.
What ties the five situations together is a change in who has the right to possess land, paired with someone remaining on it. Section 9-201 gives the person now entitled to the property a civil action for money, separate from whatever eviction or ejectment remedy might also be available.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Section 9-201 let a landowner do?
It lets the owner, or the owner's executor or administrator, bring a civil action to recover rent or a reasonable payment for another person's use and occupation of the land.
Does a written lease have to exist to sue under this section?
No. The second instance covers land held and occupied without any special agreement for rent at all.
What happens to money already paid by a buyer who defaults on a purchase agreement?
Under the third instance, payments the buyer already made can be set off against the rent the owner is claiming.
Can a buyer at a foreclosure or judgment sale use this section against a holdover?
Yes. The fourth and fifth instances cover land sold on a judgment or under a mortgage or trust deed, once the buyer has made a written demand for possession and the prior party wrongfully refuses to surrender it.
Is Section 9-201 itself an eviction procedure?
No. It creates a claim for money -- rent or its equivalent -- rather than a process for regaining possession, though the two often go together in practice.
Amendment History
(Source: P.A. 83-707.)
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Illinois Compiled Statutes, published by the
Illinois Compiled Statutes, Illinois General Assembly / Legislative Reference Bureau. Last verified July 20, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as:illinois recovery of rent lawsuitsuing tenant for unpaid rent illinoisuse and occupation claim illinoislandlord rent lawsuit no leasevendee default land contract illinoisbuyer at foreclosure sale rent claim