770 ILCS 60/21(c) — Illinois subcontractor's 60-day notice service
Your Illinois
60-day notice.
$39 flat, return receipt included.
An Illinois subcontractor or material supplier working on an existing owner-occupied single-family residence must notify the occupant within 60 days of first furnishing, by certified mail, return receipt requested, to preserve the lien (770 ILCS 60/21(c)). A 3-minute wizard becomes the statutory notice with the 10-point bold NOTICE TO OWNER warning, mailed with the return receipt included and served at mailing, with the proof archived permanently.
Statutory text pinned from ilga.gov — cited on every document.
The subcontractor providing this notice has performed work for or delivered material to your home improvement contractor. These services or materials are being used in the improvements to your residence and entitle the subcontractor to file a lien…
The deadline, exactly
The subcontractor must notify the occupant "within 60 days from the subcontractor's first furnishing labor, services, material, fixtures, apparatus or machinery, or forms or form work" (21(c)).
"Notice by certified mail is considered served at the time of its mailing" (21(c)) — and the method is certified mail, return receipt requested, so the receipt is included. The mailing evidence is exactly what your archive holds.
A notice given after 60 days "shall preserve the subcontractor's lien, but only to the extent that the owner has not been prejudiced by payments made prior to receipt of the notice" (21(c)) — a reason to mail now, not to give up.
Not sure where you stand? Run the free deadline calculator — it applies the rule to your first-furnishing date and cites it.
Who must be served, and what the notice must say
Addressed "to the occupant or the occupant's agent of the residence" (21(c)) — the only recipient. Your contractor is named in the notice, not served.
Your name and address, the date you started to work or to deliver materials, the type of work or materials done and to be done, and the name of the contractor requesting the work (21(c)).
The prescribed NOTICE TO OWNER text "in at least 10 point bold face type", plus the warning that the owner should receive a lien waiver from each subcontractor before paying the contractor (21(c)) — printed verbatim.
Not this notice: jobs other than an existing owner-occupied single-family residence (the section 24 notice of claim applies there), and parties contracting directly with the owner. The wizard will not sell you a notice you do not need.
How it works
Answer a short wizard
The situation check, the occupant, your contractor's name, what you furnish, the residence, and your start date — about 3 minutes. The document carries the statutory warning verbatim in 10-point bold.
We certified-mail the occupant, receipt included
Submitted for certified mailing with the USPS electronic return receipt in minutes of payment. You verify the name and address before paying.
Your evidence archive
The PDF, the certified tracking number and return receipt, and a timestamped record of the mailing date — the fact 21(c) turns on — kept on a permanent page.
Questions, answered straight
Who has to send the Illinois 60-day notice?
Under 770 ILCS 60/21(c), each subcontractor who has furnished, or is furnishing, labor, services, material, fixtures, apparatus or machinery, or forms or form work for an existing owner-occupied single family residence must notify the occupant, or the occupant's agent, within 60 days from first furnishing to preserve the lien. On other jobs the section 24 notice of claim applies instead, and a party contracting directly with the owner gives no subcontractor notice. Whether that describes your job is a legal question we cannot answer.
When is it due, and what if I am late?
Within 60 days from your first furnishing (21(c)). Notice by certified mail is considered served at the time of its mailing. A notice given after 60 days still preserves the lien, but only to the extent the owner has not been prejudiced by payments made before receiving it — so mail now rather than never.
Why is the return receipt included?
The statute's mail method is "certified mail, return receipt requested" (21(c)). The USPS electronic return receipt is part of how this notice must be mailed, so it is included in the $39 — not sold as an add-on.
Is this legal advice?
No. NoticeSent is a document preparation and mailing service, not a law firm. We prepare and mail documents from the information you provide and give no advice or guarantees about outcomes.
What exactly do I get?
The notice with every fact section 21(c) requires and the prescribed NOTICE TO OWNER warning in 10-point bold, USPS certified mailing with the return receipt and tracking to the occupant, and a permanent archive page with a timestamped record of the mailing — for one flat $39.
A Notice of Intent to Lien, generated and certified-mailed to the owner — and the contractor, if you choose — for $49 flat, any state.
Send a Notice of Intent to Lien — $49Run the 60-day calculator once per job and we'll email you 10, 5, and 2 days before the statutory deadline. No account; stop anytime.
Track a deadline freeThe clock is statutory. The proof should be too.
60 days from first furnishing. One flat $39, receipt included.
Start your noticeMore for Illinois
- Illinois subcontractor notices: the 60-day notice to an owner-occupant and the section 24 notice of claim
Guide · quoted from the statute
- Subcontractor's notice of claim (section 24)
$39 flat, certified-mailed · 770 ILCS 60/24