Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Illinois

I recently moved out of a six-unit condo building where 4 of them were in foreclosure. We never had a condo association and i lot of other things started to sound far off after I moved in. However, my basement flooded 3 times within 2 months during the winter from busted pipes. The owner tried to blame me an said it was my fault the pipes busted because my heat was not on. Eventually he got the heat turned on in his name and the pipes still busted. I moved an left the condo virtually spotless. (I have pictures too of everything). I tried to sent the keys back to the Investment and the keys came back as undeliverable. I sent them certified mail with a return receipt. I just want my $1500 dollar security deposit back. What can I do?


Asked on 6/07/10, 10:57 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Stephen Messutta

It sounds like you were a renter. Chicago has a residential landlord and tenant ordinance that may apply to you. But first you have to read your lease -- a summary of the ordinance is supposed to be attached. Nice to have pictures but did you give the landlord written notices of any of the problems? Sounds like you moved out because the lease term was up or because things were so bad you're claiming a "constructive eviction" but can't tell. If you're entitled to your security deposit back you may be entitled to interest too. If the sole issue is where do you find the landlord, sounds like the landlord may be avoiding foreclosure too? The landlord is supposed to return the security to you with interest otherwise it continues to accrue. You may need to hire a skip trace (P.I.) to track down the owner -- the owner may have "disappeared". If you wait until the lender takes the place over, the lender may not be liable to you.

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Answered on 6/07/10, 2:35 pm


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