Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Illinois
I am renting a condo from a private owner in Chicago IL, and my lease is ending soon. I learned that the condo charges a $250 move-out fee and $250 deposit for reserving the freight elevator. On my lease, it makes no mention of this fee, although the move-IN fees were clearly outlined. I do not think I should be paying the move-out fee since I was not aware of it. However, my lease has a catch-all statement that the owner is pointing to when I asked if he would pay the move-out fee.
The relevant lines of the lease states:
- Lessee is responsible for paying a $250.00 move-in fee, plus a separate check for a security deposit of $200.00, both payable to XXX (the Management Company). It is understood that the $250.00 move-in fee is non-refundable.
- Lessee agrees to abide by the rules and regulations of the association and should there be any violations, Lessee agrees to pay the fine(s) by the association.
I was not given a copy of the condo's rules and regulation upon move-in either.
Am I legally responsible for this fee?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Probably.
You signed the lease (contract) and if you read it at the time of signing and had questions, you should have asked for copies of the HOA material.
Let's be practical here. The lease refers to the HOA rules. Every condo lease has to incorporate them by reference. A lot of people check them out ahead of time, since they have things like pets, or they smoke, or something else that there may be a rule against even if it isn't in the lease. You were put on due inquiry, constructive notice, that there were more "rules". At least the fact that there were more rules wasn't hidden. And for all your know the move out charge was added after your lease was signed - that's one reason why leases are worded that way: often new rules come into play. And if you paid a move-in fee with elevator charges, do you really really believe there would be no move-out fee? Lastly, you're in Chicago and assuming your lease is covered by the Chicago Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance even it does not address this issue, but it DOES say that if you breach the lease for anything other than non-payment of rent, you don't pay the charges and your landlord winds up being hit with them, the amount could be deducted from your security deposit and/or your landlord could sue you and if he or she wins would get not only the charge amount, but court costs and if he or she has an attorney go after you, the attorney fees.
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