Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois

Commercial Lease - Security Deposit Return Refused - Illinois

Our company lease (Illinois) ended Dec 31st. We moved May 30th this year. We have a 3,600.00 Sec. Deposit. Landlord refuses to return because lease says our rent would be $1,200 more per month if we stayed without a lease, which we did for 5 months, and we messed up and didn't read the lease with an attorney. Is this legal? Can we do anything or are we at a loss? This is really hurting our little 3 person company badly.


Asked on 6/12/09, 10:13 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Re: Commercial Lease - Security Deposit Return Refused - Illinois

Based on the information provided, you are out of luck. However, it might be worth a small investment to have an attorney review the entire lease and determine whether there may be some loophole available to you that will at least provide you with some negotiation leverage, especially since at this point you have not only lost the $3600, you owe an additional $2400. Good lcuk.

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Answered on 6/13/09, 1:24 pm
Naheed Amdani Law Offices of Naheed A. Amdani, P.C.

Re: Commercial Lease - Security Deposit Return Refused - Illinois

If you signed a commercial lease and it does in fact state that you will pay a premium if you stay on without a lease (which is extremely common), then there is not much you can do. You can certainly try to speak to the landlord and plead your case; perhaps he might be willing to budge a little. But in a typical situation such as this one, as long as the lease is not invalidated for some other reason, the landlord has a right to the extra holdover rent.

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Answered on 6/13/09, 2:40 am


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