Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Illinois

The Illinois Security Deposit Return Act was amended for leases after 1974. The original act simply said that landlords of buildings w/ 5 or more units had to return security deposits within a specific time frame.

The act was amended and did NOT talk about the number of units involved. However, what it did do was the following: IF the sale did NOT first go to the lender by deed and then to the new owner by deed, then whether or not the security deposit was actually transferred from the old owner to the new owner, the amendment made BOTH the old owner and new owner liable. Second, if the property went through foreclosure and the old owner DID transfer the security deposit to the new owner, then the new owner would be liable and the old owner would be off the hook. SO, if the foreclosure resulted in the bank's actually taking title to the property before it was sold to the new owner, the act seems to say only the OLD owner is liable for the security deposit unless there was an actual transfer of it to the new owner. Bottom line is that you may only have recourse against the OLD owner unless you can show how title was transferred and whether, if through foreclosure, the security deposit was ACTUALLY transferred to the new owner. This may take some digging and you should think about involving an attorney who at least can write letters to the parties involved to find out exactly what happened here.