Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Illinois

Well, kind of. The rights granted to a victim under the Safe Homes Act is what is called an "Affirmative Defense". That means you, the victim, must follow its requirements and bring it up. You must have given your landlord the required notice, and you must be able to prove you were actually being threatened. As long as you gave the proper notice, you can try to do so when the lawsuit is first started, but if the landlord or landlord's lawyer don't believe you, you may wind up having to prove it in front of a judge. It's just the way the law works.