Eviction - jury trial granted, help!
Hello to all pro landlords,
We have an eviction problem. We have a property manager managing our rental house. The tenants have not been paying for several months now (rent have always been late since they rented the house and we have a two year lease which will end next May) . We hired a lawyer and filed for eviction in July. The court dates were set on 8/8/17 and 8/22/17. On 8/8/17, our lawyer showed up in court and tenant showed up in court (without his lawyer) and requested for another trial, claiming he needs advice from his lawyer. On 8/22/17, our lawyer and property manager showed up in court. I believe we have all the paper work (5 day notice, original lease, updated ledger showing the non payment rent etc). Tenant also showed up at court without a lawyer, showed a lawyer's business card (claiming his lawyer) and requested to have a jury trial. And then, a jury trial date is set in another three weeks (not sure why it was being granted as we have all the evidence to prove that the tenants have not been paying rent)
Our lawyer advised us new fees for the jury trial... we have already paid for 2 trials, a sheriff eviction.... but I cannot see the end of it (since it seems like it automatically granted the tenant's right to drag the case and continue to live in our house for free ..) not sure how much more are we going to pay for the eviction legal fees and how long it's going to take...
I researched online, it seems like most judgement will be granted in favor of landlord during the second trial (if provide all evidence such as our case). But why a jury trial is granted to the tenant for our eviction case?
I also researched that I might be able to file a motion with the court asking for "use and occupation" for the tenant to pay rents while the case is going on... but not sure if this is applicable for IL cook county and how likely will we get the rents...
Can you provide me advice on how to proceed?
Thanks in advance for your valuable advice.