9-106.2.Affirmative defense for violence; barring persons from property.

Article IX. Eviction · Part 1. In General · Last amended 2013 · Last verified July 20, 2026

In one sentenceSection 9-106.2 gives domestic-violence, dating-violence, stalking, and sexual-violence victims an affirmative defense to eviction when the demand for possession rests on that abuse, while still letting a landlord bar a dangerous non-tenant from the property.

Full Text of 735 ILCS 5/9-106.2

Text sizeJump to: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g)

(a) It shall be an affirmative defense to an action maintained under this Article IX if the court makes one of the following findings that the demand for possession is:

(1) based solely on the tenant's, lessee's, or household member's status as a victim of domestic violence or sexual violence as those terms are defined in Section 10 of the Safe Homes Act, stalking as that term is defined in the Criminal Code of 2012, or dating violence;

(2) based solely upon an incident of actual or threatened domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, or sexual violence against a tenant, lessee, or household member;

(3) based solely upon criminal activity directly relating to domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, or sexual violence engaged in by a member of a tenant's or lessee's household or any guest or other person under the tenant's, lessee's, or household member's control, and against the tenant, lessee, or household member; or

(4) based upon a demand for possession pursuant to subsection (f) where the tenant, lessee, or household member who was the victim of domestic violence, sexual violence, stalking, or dating violence did not knowingly consent to the barred person entering the premises or a valid court order permitted the barred person's entry onto the premises.

(b) When asserting the affirmative defense, at least one form of the following types of evidence shall be provided to support the affirmative defense: medical, court, or police records documenting the violence or a statement from an employee of a victim service organization or from a medical professional from whom the tenant, lessee, or household member has sought services.

(c) Nothing in subsection (a) shall prevent the landlord from seeking possession solely against a tenant, household member, or lessee of the premises who perpetrated the violence referred to in subsection (a).

(d) Nothing in subsection (a) shall prevent the landlord from seeking possession against the entire household, including the tenant, lessee, or household member who is a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, or sexual violence if the tenant, lessee, or household member's continued tenancy would pose an actual and imminent threat to other tenants, lessees, household members, the landlord or their agents at the property.

(e) Nothing in subsection (a) shall prevent the landlord from seeking possession against the tenant, lessee, or household member who is a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, or sexual violence if that tenant, lessee, or household member has committed the criminal activity on which the demand for possession is based.

(f) A landlord shall have the power to bar the presence of a person from the premises owned by the landlord who is not a tenant or lessee or who is not a member of the tenant's or lessee's household. A landlord bars a person from the premises by providing written notice to the tenant or lessee that the person is no longer allowed on the premises. That notice shall state that if the tenant invites the barred person onto any portion of the premises, then the landlord may treat this as a breach of the lease, whether or not this provision is contained in the lease. Subject to paragraph (4) of subsection (a), the landlord may evict the tenant.

(g) Further, a landlord may give notice to a person that the person is barred from the premises owned by the landlord. A person has received notice from the landlord within the meaning of this subsection if he has been notified personally, either orally or in writing including a valid court order as defined by subsection (7) of Section 112A-3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 granting remedy (2) of subsection (b) of Section 112A-14 of that Code, or if a printed or written notice forbidding such entry has been conspicuously posted or exhibited at the main entrance to such land or the forbidden part thereof. Any person entering the landlord's premises after such notice has been given shall be guilty of criminal trespass to real property as set forth in Section 21-3 of the Criminal Code of 2012. After notice has been given, an invitation to the person to enter the premises shall be void if made by a tenant, lessee, or member of the tenant's or lessee's household and shall not constitute a valid invitation to come upon the premises or a defense to a criminal trespass to real property.

End

Plain-English Summary

Four grounds support the affirmative defense: a demand based solely on the tenant's, lessee's, or household member's status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual violence, stalking, or dating violence; a demand based solely on an incident of actual or threatened violence against them; a demand based solely on related criminal activity by a household member, guest, or other person under the tenant's control, directed at the victim; or, tied to subsection (f), a demand where the victim didn't knowingly let a barred person onto the property or a valid court order permitted the entry.

Raising the defense takes at least one piece of documentary support -- medical, court, or police records, or a statement from an employee of a victim service organization or a medical professional.

The defense has real limits. A landlord can still seek possession solely against the person who committed the violence, against the entire household including the victim if continued tenancy poses an actual and imminent threat to others, or against the victim if the victim committed the criminal activity the demand is based on.

The section also gives a landlord a separate power: barring a non-tenant, non-household-member from the property by written notice to the tenant or lessee. If the tenant invites that barred person back, the landlord can treat it as a lease breach and pursue eviction. Once a barred person has notice -- oral, written, a qualifying court order, or a posted notice -- entering again is criminal trespass, and a tenant's invitation afterward doesn't excuse it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a landlord evict a tenant for being a victim of domestic violence?

No -- if the demand for possession is based solely on the tenant's, lessee's, or household member's status as a victim, or on an incident of the violence itself, it's an affirmative defense to eviction.

What evidence supports this affirmative defense?

At least one form of documentation: medical, court, or police records, or a statement from an employee of a victim service organization or a medical professional.

Can a landlord still evict the person who committed the violence?

Yes -- nothing in the defense stops a landlord from seeking possession solely against the household member, tenant, or lessee who perpetrated it.

Can a landlord bar an abuser from the property without evicting the victim?

Yes -- a landlord can give written notice barring a non-tenant, non-household-member from the premises, and anyone who enters after that notice commits criminal trespass.

What if the tenant invites the barred person back onto the property?

The landlord can treat that as a lease breach and pursue eviction, unless the victim didn't knowingly consent to the entry or a valid court order permitted it.

Amendment History

(Source: P.A. 96-1188, eff. 7-22-10; 97-1150, eff. 1-25-13.)

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

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