Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Illinois

I live in Waukegan, IL. I reside in a house with two units; upstairs and downstairs. I am also on section 8. I have two situations that are proving difficult to get any help with. Since there is a lot of information I will separate the description of each to make it easier to understand.

1-My upstairs neighbors roof is caving in. The roof has a hole in it and has since I moved in September 1st, 2015. Because of this, I think it's safe to assume there is mold throughout the walls. Also, my neighbor has visible mold growing on her apartment; a pretty good amount. Furthermore, everytime someone upstairs takes a shower my bathroom fan leaks. Therefore, I believe it is safe to assume that there is mold growing in my bathroom ceiling as well. When I first moved in they had to remove a 2x2 area of mold floating on standing water and it was not properly removed. Lastly, I have an asthmatic 9 year old whose symptoms were once controlled prior to moving here and no longer are. My 21 month old has had 3 upper respiratory infections/bronchitis in the past 6 months. He was hospitalized for one. I provided my section 8 office case worker and director with pictures of the mold in her unit, her roof caving in, and a video of my fan leaking. Their response was, "it's not in your unit therefore, the mold doesn't affect you and your family." I think this is an unprofessional and uneducated response to this issue. They also said that they have to give the landlord time to fix this issue yet, I think they fail to realize that mold growing inside walls cannot just be "fixed."

2-I received a Notice to Vacate from the City of Waukegan. I currently have until May 20th to vacate this property. I contacted the inspector and he informed me that my landlord has to have an inspection before that date. The landlord says he's going to schedule it but, given the above info, how will he fix this in time? Despite being given photos of the notice and contacting the inspector themselves, section 8 told me that they don't care what that paper says I cannot leave. They said I must remain in my unit. They again stated that they must give the landlord time to "fix" these issues but again, how can they be properly fixed without removing me from my unit? My final question is, as of today I have 30 days to be out of my unit per the notice, at what point will they say enough waiting and get me out so that my children and I are not forced to leave by the city on that date?

Thank you to all of those who take the time to read and answer my question.


Asked on 4/20/16, 5:43 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Stephen Messutta

Can't say anything without knowing the terms of your lease. But if the City issues a vacation order because the place is unsafe, that could supersede the lease, and your only rights might be to sue the landlord. As to what the Section 8 people said, this is something I would have a local attorney look into. There must be a legal clinic in town.

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Answered on 5/16/16, 10:16 am


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