Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Illinois

I recently moved out of a duplex. The landlord said he didn't have time to do a walk thru with us, but went to look at the place by himself. He called us and said everything looked great and he would give us half our deposit back then and he wanted to see how much time and paint it would take to paint the place before giving us more of our deposit back. After the painting was done, he called and said that he found some damage. We looked at the damage with him, but we are not sure we are responsible for some of the damage. Also, he has already rented the place again and we have reason to believe that he did not make the repairs he charged us for and has no intention of doing so. The are very minor damages and he has kept $365 of the remaining $400 of our deposit. He only owns this duplex and a trailer as rental properties.


Asked on 8/25/09, 8:09 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Walter Palmer Law Office of Walter Palmer

This is all too common and most landlords get away with it because:

It's a judgment call.

The amount of money involved does not justify court costs - it would cost you $300 to file a case in court

You have moved on - literally.

You could call the Legal Aid Foundation and see if they would make some telephone calls for you in this matter.

Next time, take a camera with you when you make the final inspection before moving in and before you move out. Have the landlord sign a description of the pre-existing condition of the apartment and do the same thing when you move out.

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Answered on 8/31/09, 8:42 am


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