Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Illinois

Theft of my Security Deposit

I had originally been renting a room in a house for 5 months, at which point I moved out because the other tenants continually kept trying to raise the rent on me by means of extortion. I called the landlord of the premises, and she said it was ok, though the man legally responsible at that time was the Master Lessor, not her persay. In any event I moved out, and had received a check before hand for my security deposit, and the day after the ''expiration'' of my lease I received a voice mail stating that a stop payment had been put on the check for ''damages'' which amounted to the Master Lessor (according to him) cleaning the wooden floors with a mop. He said he would charge an hourly rate for his time and deduct it from my deposit and cut me a new check. The check however had been cashed prior to his stop-payment, and two weeks later it was rescinded into his bank account as we share the same bank. Under Illinois law as it appears this is illegal. 30 days have since gone by since my lease was ''officially over'' and I have received nothing from him, nor do I expect anything. Can I sue for the return of my deposit? And can I do it without notice from me since he said he was going to return it?

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