Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Illinois

Landlord trying to send me to collection

I rented a townhouse for 3 years. In that time, the landlord never cleaned the carpet or offered to paint. Now he wants to charge me $2000.00 for paint and $2000 for carpet that he says I ruined (normal wear and tear stains) no rips. He never took me to court but he sent me a letter stating that if I do not pay he will take me to a collection agency. Is he allowed to refer my account to a collection agency if he does not have a judgement? How do I counter this?


Asked on 9/10/07, 12:34 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Peter Olson The Olson Law Firm, LLC

Re: Landlord trying to send me to collection

Unless you're specifically bound under a lease for these exact amounts, he really can't send you to a collection agency. Frankly he and the collection agency face stiff penalities under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act if he'd do this. Other than giving him a "friendly" reminder of the penalties he potentially faces for bogus debt collection there's really nothing else to do. Was there a security deposit? If there was this "damage" why wouldn't he have used it for these "repairs."

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Answered on 9/10/07, 1:56 pm


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