Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Illinois
Landlord keeping Security Deposit
We moved from our apartment on April 30, 2007. Today is Jun 26, 2007.
Our landlord has yet to return any of our security deposit.
When we contacted her last week, she said that the apartment had a terrible odor and she needed to rip up the floors because of damage caused by our ferrets. The ferrets were noted on the lease as being ''OK'' and we paid a 300 dollar pet deposit on top of our security deposit.
Our landlord had been in our apartment numerous time during our lease and never said anything about a smell. We were given a list of things to take care of before we left (mop floors, wipe windows, etc.)Furthermore she walked through the the apartment the night we moved out and did not mention that she would have to rip up any floors.
On top of everything, we have learned that she rented the apartment to another tenant before deciding that the floors needed to be ripped up.
We really think that our landloard is trying to get us to foot the bill for a rehab project. I would just like to know if there is any action we can take to get our deposit back.
The apartment was a 2flat in Cook County IL (Chicago) with the landlord living on the property.
Thank you very much.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Landlord keeping Security Deposit
Send a letter to your landlord demanding the return of your deposit. Cite 5-12-080 of the Chicago RLTO -- I suggest you look it up and see how many of the subsections were violated by your landlord. If she was planning on deducting from your deposit to cover damage, she needed to notify you within 30 days.
Re: Landlord keeping Security Deposit
You had to be notified within 30 days and, if not, your deposit should have been returned within 45 days. You can sue her and recover not only your deposit, but interest, attorneys' fees and probably penalties - it's worth your while to get an attorney.
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
