Rule 139.Practice and Procedure in Eviction Cases
Article II. Rules on Civil Proceedings in the Trial Court · Part B. Pleadings and Other Papers · Last amended 2020 · Last verified July 20, 2026
In one sentenceRule 139 requires eviction complaints to attach the underlying termination notice and, when the case is based on a lease violation, the lease itself.
Full Text of Ill. S. Ct. R. 139
(a) Applicability of the Rule. This Rule supplements, but does not replace, the requirements set forth in article IX of the Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS 5/9-101 et seq.) and applies only to eviction actions filed on or after the effective date of July 17, 2020.
(b) Supporting Documents for Eviction Complaints. (1) At the time of filing, the plaintiff shall attach a copy of the eviction notice or demand upon which the action is based, including any affidavits or other proof of service, to the eviction complaint. If the plaintiff does not have the eviction notice or demand, the plaintiff may attach an affidavit instead, using the standardized form approved for use by the Illinois Supreme Court.
(2) When an eviction action is based on a breach of a written lease and brought pursuant to section 9-210 of the Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS 5/9-210), the plaintiff shall also attach a copy of the lease, or the relevant portions of the lease, to the eviction complaint at the time of filing. If the plaintiff does not have the lease or if there is no written lease, the plaintiff may attach an affidavit instead, using the standardized form approved for use by the Illinois Supreme Court.
End
Plain-English Summary
Rule 139 supplements Illinois eviction law for cases filed on or after July 17, 2020. Illinois’s eviction statute lets a plaintiff plead a bare-bones complaint, without spelling out every fact behind the claim. But the real basis for an eviction, whether termination for lease violation or a simple demand for possession, usually lives in a separate notice served on the tenant beforehand, and that notice historically was not attached to the complaint.
Rule 139 closes that gap. At filing, the plaintiff must attach a copy of the eviction notice or demand, along with any proof of service, or submit a standardized affidavit if that document is not available. When the eviction is based on a lease violation under section 9-210 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the plaintiff must also attach the relevant lease provisions, or an affidavit explaining why they cannot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do landlords have to attach the eviction notice to the complaint in Illinois?
Yes, for cases filed on or after July 17, 2020, Rule 139 requires the eviction notice or demand for possession, along with proof of service, to be attached at the time of filing.
What if the landlord does not have a copy of the eviction notice anymore?
Rule 139 allows the plaintiff to attach a standardized affidavit instead of the notice itself.
Does the lease have to be attached to an eviction complaint?
Only when the eviction is based on a breach of a written lease under section 9-210 of the Code of Civil Procedure, in which case the relevant lease provisions, or an affidavit explaining their absence, must be attached.
Why was Rule 139 adopted?
Eviction complaints historically did not have to include the notice or lease behind the claim, leaving tenants and courts without those documents at the outset. Rule 139 requires them upfront so both sides and the judge can see the basis for the case from the start.
Does Rule 139 replace the eviction requirements in the Code of Civil Procedure?
No, it supplements them. The underlying pleading requirements in article IX of the Code of Civil Procedure still apply.
Committee Comments
(July 17, 2020)
Article IX of the Code of Civil Procedure does not require that a plaintiff include all of the facts necessary to establish a prima facie case in the eviction complaint. Instead, it requires that an eviction complaint state that the plaintiff is “entitled to the possession of such premises (describing the same with reasonable certainty), and that the defendant (naming the defendant) unlawfully withholds the possession thereof from him, her or them.” 735 ILCS 5/9-106 (West 2018).
The factual basis for a termination of tenancy or lease, or authority for a demand for possession, is detailed in the “notice of termination” or “demand for possession” served on the tenant prior to the filing of the eviction action. Additionally, demands and notices must provide language indicating termination of tenancy and, when applicable, provide for a cure period. The notices and demands provide tenants with a basis for understanding why their landlords are seeking to evict them, and ways to cure the violations, when applicable.
However, although a demand for possession or a notice of termination is almost always a prerequisite to the filing of an eviction action, these documents, generally, have not been attached to eviction complaints. Similarly, although the breach of a lease term may form the basis for a termination notice and eviction complaint, the lease, or relevant portion of the lease, also rarely has been attached to eviction complaints.
Section 2-606 of the Code of Civil Procedure does require that, “[i]f a claim or defense is founded upon a written instrument, a copy thereof, or of so much of the same as is relevant, must be attached to the pleading as an exhibit or recited therein, unless the pleader attaches to his or her pleading an affidavit stating facts showing that the instrument is not accessible to him or her. In pleading any written instrument a copy thereof may be attached to the pleading as an exhibit. In either case the exhibit constitutes a part of the pleading for all purposes.” 735 ILCS 5/2-606 (West 2018). However, section 2-606 of the Code of Civil Procedure, generally, has not been applied to eviction actions because the pleading requirements described in section 9-106 do not expressly require that any documents be attached to the complaint. Paragraph (b) supplements the complaint requirements of the eviction statute in a manner consistent with section 2-606.
The requirements of paragraph (b), that a copy of the predicate written demand, termination notice (including affidavits or proof of service), and, where applicable, the relevant lease provisions be attached to the complaint, allow courts and tenants to have these documents upon the initiation of eviction actions and assure that the documents are available in court for use by both landlords and tenants for more efficient and just resolution of these cases.
Amendment History
Adopted July 17, 2020, eff. immediately.
Source & verification. Rule text, official Committee Comments, and
amendment history are reproduced verbatim from the Illinois Supreme Court Rules,
promulgated by the Supreme Court of Illinois. Last verified July 20, 2026.
· Official source
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