The Law Office of Matt Albrecht can represent landlords in tenant disputes pending in the Circuit Court of Cook County.
The most common tenant dispute typically involves the non-payment of rent. If the tenant fails to timely pay rent, the landlord’s sole remedy is an eviction action. It is important to understand that prior to filing the eviction action, the landlord must properly serve the tenant with a “5-day notice” (nonpayment of rent) form, a “10-day notice" (for conduct in violation of the terms of the lease) form or a “30-day notice" (in the instance of a month-to-month lease) form. Please contact Matt if you do not have the proper form.
In Chicago, the security deposit held by the landlord is actually the property of the tenant. Within 30 days of moving out, the landlord should notify the tenant, in writing, whether he or she is going to make any deductions from the tenant’s security deposit for repairs or damages. If the landlord does not inform the tenant of damages, then the landlord is obligated to return the security deposit within 45 days of the tenant moving out. If the landlord notifies the tenant of the estimated cost of repairs, the landlord has an additional 30 days to furnish the tenant with paid receipts.
Municipalities in Illinois have building or housing codes, which describe in great detail the level of maintenance required of an owner of a building.
The City of Chicago has written a Building Code which is unique in Illinois. That code has over 1,400 pages!
Building codes cover electrical, plumbing, mechanical, fire protection, structural, elevator and existing building requirements.
These codes have a provision that a landlord shall not rent any property that does not meet the building requirements.