Newbie finding Nice guys finish last...looking for advice

[Mike Barry]

Hi Everyone, 

I can use a little advice here. I'm a semi new landlord, but this is my first situation with a constantly late tenant. She is a single mom who I inherited with the last rental property I purchased. I've gotten a lot of the "down on my luck" stories so I've been a bit too lenient with her until now when her rent payment check bounced. She is going on now almost a month late, and I keep getting the run around. I never gave her a 5 day late notice as is required here in Will County IL. 

My question is at this point do I need to first serve her with a 5 day late notice since that was never done before any eviction process can be started? 

Any advice is greatly appreciated!