Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Illinois

lanlord tenant laws

my husband &I rented an apartment january 1st-july 1st. the month before we moved the apartments were sold to a man. we went to pay the original landlord on the 1st and she refused and wouldnt tell us who the new landlord was. nobody ever told us anything. a week before we moved we spoke to the maintenance person and we then contacted the new landlord. he said that he would keep are deposit as last months rent and we would have to pay 90 for carpet cleaning and any damages would be extra went to pay the maintenance guy the 90 but he wasnt home. we moved out of state next day. my husband has the exact same name as hisdad who lives close to our old apartment. the landlord has been contacting him by mail and phone but my husband doesnt speak to his father and he never told us until he got a certified letter stating he was suing us in court. as soon as we found out we looked up his name online and got his phone # and called him. he refuses to accept payment from us even though we offered to pay in full that day. he said he is taking us to court and we pay all his lawyer fees. is he able to refuse our payment? . i sent him a letter with a check for the full amount if he accepts does he still have a case against us and what if he doesnt


Asked on 9/20/07, 6:27 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Mary McDonagh McDonagh-Faherty Law Offices

Re: lanlord tenant laws

He can only sue for what you owe. If you left a forwarding address (which you should have), he had to send you a written statement outlining what he claimed you owed due to damages to the apartment within 30 days. You do not have to pay for normal wear and tear (such as cleaning a carpet) unless something was damaged (stain on carpet, for example). He can cash your check and still retain his rights but more detail is needed to form a full opinion.

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Answered on 9/22/07, 12:35 pm


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