Landlord Won't Disclose his Address, Won't Fix the Heat, and Won't Return the Security Deposit
The family in this case rented one unit in a two-flat in Chicago. They gave a $1,387 security deposit. The Landlord never disclosed his real address, and instead put the address of the rental property on the lease as his address. He did not live there, and just came by to pick up mail. The heat did not work in the winter, and the Landlord ignored the tenants' complaints. The Tenants' young son was having a hard time sleeping in the cold apartment.
The Tenants had our office serve a lease termination notice on their landlord compliant with two different sections of the RLTO. The letter also requested that the Landlord return the Tenants' security deposit within 45 days after the Tenants moved out.
The Landlord never responded to the letter or returned any deposit. The Landlord ignored another letter about 50 days after the Tenants had moved out, which inquired after the tenants' deposit. The Tenants eventually asked us to file suit to get their deposit back.
At trial the Landlord insisted the deposit was validly withheld for rent, because the Tenants "broke" their lease. However, our lease termination was found valid.
