Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Illinois
Hello. I'm a 22yr old female and I'm currently renting a apartment for $700 all utilities included in Illinois. Back in may I recieved a final notice that my water would be shut off it was not paid which in the lease it states all utilities are included with a flat rate of $700. Monday my water was shut off when I called the city they informed me that it had not been paid since may of this year. I have also made it clear before I moved into the apartment Dec. 1st 2017 that the shower had a extremely large crack and needed repair. My landlords advise was to not use the shower and stated that it would be fixed before I moved in on December 1st 2017, along with a broken cabinet door and front door knob which kept falling off which prevented us from being able to lock our house when we left. About a month later he fixed the door and I again adressed the issue with the shower which he said we could use but to be careful so we covered the crack with plastic and tape as best we could. he has yet to address any of the other issues and it has been 8months now and the shower has not been fixed and is covered in mold due to the moisture and the cabinet door fell on my boyfriend's head not long after. I have contacted him several times and he claimed he will fix it but will then cancel around 10pm every time. He has entered my home with out forewarning or permission at least once to which I have a witness for. Now he is telling me that I'm not allowed to keep my vehicle in the parking space that I pay for. I do believe that he thinks that because I'm young that I'm stupid and wont speak up but I'm reaching the end of my rope with this man. He made a comment that I call him mac because there is another landlord with his name in the same city that is a slum lord and refuses to give me his last name. When I checked the lease it only has the name of his company so I'm at a loss and not sure what else to do.
1 Answer from Attorneys
This is too complicated for our forum, but you should first head over to the building department in your town because he failure to supply an essential service may allow them to order the place vacated and/or allow you to move out as a "constructive eviction" (but this should be done with legal help since it requires notice). Your town may also have a local ordinance that allows you to pay the water bill and deduct it from rent; I can't say you'd have to do your homework or hire a local attorney. Mostly it sounds, however, like the landlord is trying to make life difficult for you so you give your own proper notice and leave. But if you have a lease and it may end soon, and you put up a fight, the landlord may not renew you. $700 may or may not be a good deal if your landlord is impossible, even if that stretches your monthly budget. But start with the building department - if you file a complaint and then the landlord tries to evict you, you may have a defense of "retaliatory eviction" - a landlord is not supposed to evict if you exercise legal rights to file complaints of code violations.....
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