Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois

Yes you could get stung. If your lease is covered by the Chicago Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance you can sublet. If it's not why nOt tell your landlord what you need to do and see what happens? If he's unreasonable you may have some excuse buy it could still be a lawsuit. Just ducking out will leave you nowhere and most likely tick off the landlord enough to want to come after you. For safety sake if you're willing to risk a lawsuit why don't you first run the lease by an attorney. Penny wise...?

Its hard to tell what your Landlord might wish to do. So many things in flux. First, how many units in the building? That has a bearing on the outcome. Second, security deposits can't generally be applied to rent, only to damages. Third, if the Landlord comes after you, can you prove that there was an effort to rent to another? And I'm just beginning. Might be nice if you went to your Landlord, hat in hand, and relate that due to unforeseen circumstances, you can't complete the lease. Bankruptcy is an option.....