770 ILCS 60/24 — Illinois subcontractor's notice of claim service
Your Illinois
notice of claim.
$39 flat, return receipt included.
An Illinois subcontractor tells the owner of record what it is owed under section 24 — any time after contracting, and within 90 days after completing the work — by certified mail, return receipt requested. Once notified, the owner must retain your money from the contractor (60/27). A 3-minute wizard becomes the notice in the statutory form, 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.
You are hereby notified that I have been employed by (the name of contractor) to … under his or her contract with you, on your property at … and that there was due to me, or is to become due, the sum of $…
The deadline, exactly
"May at any time after making his or her contract with the contractor, and shall within 90 days after the completion thereof" — or within 90 days after completion of extra work or final delivery of extra material (60/24(a)).
"Notice shall be considered served at the time the written notice is placed with the delivery service or in the mail" (60/24(a)) — and the method is certified mail, return receipt requested, so the receipt is included.
Once notified, the owner "shall retain from any money due or to become due the contractor, an amount sufficient to pay" your claim (60/27). Payments after notice without retaining are illegal as against you.
Not sure where you stand? Run the free deadline calculator — enter the date you completed your contract and it cites the rule.
Who must be served
"The owner of record or the owner of record's agent or architect, or the superintendent having charge of the building or improvement" (60/24(a)) — you choose which capacity the notice is addressed to.
Served too whenever you know it (60/24(a)). One click adds the lender to the same $39.
A party contracting directly with the owner is the contractor (60/1) and gives the section 5 sworn statement instead. On an existing owner-occupied single-family residence, the 60-day notice under section 21(c) is the early-job notice — see the 60-day notice page.
How it works
Answer a short wizard
Who you contracted with, the owner of record, the lender if known, what you were employed to do, the property, the sum due, and your completion date — about 3 minutes. The document follows the statutory form sentence for sentence.
We certified-mail every recipient, receipt included
Submitted for certified mailing with the USPS electronic return receipt in minutes of payment. You verify every name and address before paying.
Your evidence archive
The PDF, the certified tracking number and return receipt for each recipient, and a timestamped record of the mailing date — the fact 60/24(a) turns on — kept on a permanent page.
Questions, answered straight
What is the Illinois section 24 notice?
Under 770 ILCS 60/24(a), a subcontractor or party furnishing labor, materials, fixtures, apparatus, machinery, or services under a contract with the contractor gives the owner of record (or the owner's agent, architect, or the superintendent in charge) and the lending agency, if known, a written notice of the claim and the amount due or to become due. Once notified, the owner must retain from money due the contractor enough to pay the claim (60/27). It applies on any private job, not only owner-occupied residences.
When is it due?
It may be given at any time after you make your contract with the contractor, and it must be given within 90 days after you complete it (or, if extra work or material is delivered later, within 90 days after completion of the extras or the final delivery). Notice is considered served at the time it is placed in the mail (60/24(a)). Earlier is stronger: the owner is not liable to a claimant omitted from the contractor's sworn statement unless notified before paying the contractor (60/27).
Why is the return receipt included?
The statute's mail method is "registered or certified mail, with return receipt requested" (60/24(a)). 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 the notice always necessary?
Not where the contractor's sworn statement already gives the owner notice of the amount due and to whom due (60/24(a)) — but you cannot see that statement, and if it is wrong about your amount you are protected only to the amount it names. Sending the notice yourself makes the owner retain your money. Whether to rely on the contractor's statement is a legal question we cannot answer.
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.
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 90-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.
90 days from completion. 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
- 60-day notice to owner-occupant
$39 flat, certified-mailed · 770 ILCS 60/21(c)