When an Eviction File Is Sealed
735 ILCS 5/9-121 — a court may seal a baseless case, and some files must be sealed
A court may order an eviction court file sealed where it finds the landlord's case sufficiently without a basis in fact or law, which may include a lack of jurisdiction, that sealing is clearly in the interests of justice and not outweighed by the public's interest in knowing about the record.
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The court file must be sealed in an eviction brought to end a bona fide lease in a foreclosed residential property, and in a case dismissed because the complaint named a minor.
No minor as a defendant. An eviction complaint may not name a person under 18 as a defendant, unless emancipated. A complaint that does is dismissed in its entirety against all defendants and sealed, and a minor willfully and wantonly named is entitled to reasonable attorney's fees, actual damages, and liquidated damages of $1,000.
Sources for this section (3)
- 735 ILCS 5/9-121 — Sealing of court file
- 735 ILCS 5/9-106 — Pleadings and evidence
- 735 ILCS 5/9-207.5 — Termination of bona fide leases in residential real estate in foreclosure
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Illinois attorney.