Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Illinois

Based on the facts you gave, and some that are missing, better than 50/50 but still no guaranty.

1. How long do you have to sue: The Illinois Statute of Limitations on written contracts is 10 years from the date of the breach, but frankly the longer you wait the more problems there are.

2. "Chances": I think the most important fact here is not the mold test kit, pictures or your witnesses even those are very helpful. It is that how many people move out during a year lease, sign another lease and put up another security deposit unless something was very wrong with the first place.....Judges do look at that fact pattern.

Otherwise you've done a pretty good job putting a pretty good "case" together with the following limitations:

a. Mold is everywhere; mildew is pre-emergent mold. FEMA has a good booklet on it and the difference between mold and mildew at:

http://www.fema.gov/pdf/rebuild/recover/fema_mold_brochure_english.pdf

b. Your test kit results and photos are very helpful but in the end only certain molds are a health problem in any quantity, and only a qualified air quality / environmental consultant can assess the situation because there is also no "absolute" standard for the amount of mold that is harmful.

c. So when you first saw the place was it painted white and did it have any peculiar odor? In retrospect it could indicate that the landlord "bleached out" the place just to rent it. Is there any way to contact the prior tenant to see if they had a problem? Local health department, etc. ever receive a complaint? All these things help.

d. You say the deal you cut was to terminate or move you to another rental of his, and you don't have that in writing. He could easily say he understood you to say you wanted this leased terminated but you'd move to another of his rentals. Also if you already had problems with him why would you agree to another rental from him? You need to think about how to respond to those kinds of things.

e. Finally, check out the lease because it may say whether attorney fees and court costs are to be paid if there's a lawsuit between you and him. Some leases make it one-sided in favor of the landlord; others make it what's called a "prevailing party" rule so that the winner gets costs and fees covered by the loser. Even if you don't wind up suing it's worth having a local attorney at least look at what you have and review the lease. And maybe making a phone call for you to see if that will loosen up the $; in the end it could save court costs and/or fees that could eat up your deposit.

Hope this helps!!!