Chicago Residential Landlord & Tenant Ordinance
Section 5-12-100 Notice of conditions affecting habitability
Before a tenant initially enters into or renews a rental agreement for a dwelling unit, the landlord or any person authorized to enter into a rental agreement on his behalf shall disclose to the tenant in writing:
(a) Any code violations which have been cited by the City of Chicago during the previous 12 months for the dwelling unit and common areas and provide notice of the pendency of any code enforcement litigation or compliance board proceeding pursuant to Section 14A-3-301.2.2 of this Code affecting the dwelling unit or common area. The notice shall provide the case number of the litigation and/or the identification number of the compliance board proceeding and a listing of any code violations cited.
(b) Any notice of intent by the City of Chicago or any utility provider to terminate water, gas, electrical or other utility service to the dwelling unit or common areas. The disclosure shall state the type of service to be terminated, the intended date of termination; and whether the termination will affect the dwelling unit, the common areas or both. A landlord shall be under a continuing obligation to provide disclosure of the information described in this subsection (b) throughout a tenancy. If a landlord violates this section, the tenant or prospective tenant shall be entitled to remedies described in Section 5-12-090.
Commentary
This section of the RLTO requires landlords to provide tenants with written disclosure at the time a lease is signed about any code violations cited against the building in the past 12 months, along with disclosure of any pending code enforcement litigation affecting the building at the time the lease is signed.
The landlord is also required to disclose any notice of intent by any utility provider to interrupt service - whenever it happens.
To recover damages or break a lease because of a landlord's violation of this section, the tenant must prove the landlord was in receipt of a required written notice that has to be worded exactly correctly. Talk to a lawyer about writing that correctly.