Eviction question

[Greg Linder]

This will be my 1st eviction, tenant has been served but as far as I know a court date has not been set. The county clerk "thought" that as a landlord that is an LLC I would be required to have an attorney represent me in court. Does anyone know if this is true? McLean County IL

[Timothy Murphy III]

@Greg Linder is right. Evictions where an LLC (or other corporate entity) is either the property owner or the management company must use an attorney to evict a tenant.

The reason being is that a party to a lawsuit can either 1) represent him or herself or 2) retain an attorney for representation. As the LLC doesn't exist in the flesh, it can't walk into court and represent itself. If the owner(s) of the LLC are not licensed attorneys, representing the LLC in court would be considered the unlicensed practice of law and the non-attorney owners are not permitted to represent the LLC in court, just as they would not be permitted to represent a friend or family member.

This should point you in the right direction. Ask these questions to an IL landlord-tenant attorney and you should get the answers you're seeking.