Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Illinois

Sure you can sue. People sue all the time for lots of things -- but will you win? Very unlikely. Unless you can point to some written promise that you would not have to pay for this, it's your word against theirs. Plus if they think you're a pain, when it comes time to renew they may just say "no thank you" to you. And even though Chicago has a local ordinance that allows tenants to offset rent against repairs that are needed, this doesn't sound like something that fits that bill and again you'd have to prove it was a breach of their promise to you. Plus lawsuits can ding your credit rating and as a renter you don't need that aggravation either. So before you go ballistic check w/ the apartment company -- they may be able to program your cell phone number into their system. I have a very similar situation and the management company had that option even though I chose to get a land line for which I pay $15 a month (to AT&T). Good luck.