Chicago Landlord Tenant Law Section 020

Chicago Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance - RLTO

The security deposit interest section of The Chicago Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance (RLTO) has been interpreted by the Illinois Supreme Court to impose strict-liability upon violator landlords. Other sections of the RLTO have also been interpreted by Illinois courts in decisions mostly favorable to renters. For both landlords and tenants, courts' interpretation of the RLTO has been strict, confined to the letter of the law.

Chicago renters of town-homes, apartments, condos, and single-family homes may email attorney Silverman for a free initial review of their Chicago rental situation and rights.

SECTION

5-12-010
5-12-020
5-12-030
5-12-040
5-12-050
5-12-060
5-12-070
5-12-080
5-12-081
5-12-082
5-12-090

5-12-095
5-12-100
5-12-110
5-12-120
5-12-130
5-12-140
5-12-150
5-12-160
5-12-170
5-12-180
5-12-190
5-12-200

RATES

TITLE

Title, Purpose and scope
Exclusions
Definitions
Tenant Responsibilities
Landlord's Right of Access
Remedies for Improper Denial of Access
Landlord's Responsibility to Maintain
Security Deposits
Interest Rate on Security Deposits
Interest Rate Notification
Identification of Owner and Agents

Tenants' Notification of Foreclosure Action
Notice of Conditions Affecting Habitability
Tenant Remedies
Subleases
Landlord Remedies
Rental Agreement
Prohibition on Retaliatory Conduct by Landlord
Prohibition on Interruption of Tenant Occupancy by Landlord
Summary of Ordinance Attached to Rental Agreement
Attorney's Fees
Rights and Remedies Under Other Laws
Severability

Chicago's Security Deposit Interest Rates

5-12-020 Exclusions

Rental of the following dwelling units shall not be governed by this chapter, unless the rental agreement thereof is created to avoid the application of this chapter:

(a) Dwelling units in owner-occupied buildings containing six units or less; provided, however, that the provisions of Section 5-12-160 shall apply to every rented dwelling unit in such buildings within the City of Chicago;

(b) dwelling units in hotels, motels, inns, bed-and-breakfast establishments, rooming houses and boardinghouses, but only until such time as the dwelling unit has been occupied by a tenant for 32 or more continuous days and tenant pays a monthly rent, exclusive of any period of wrongful occupancy contrary to agreement with an owner. Notwithstanding the above, the prohibition against interruption of tenant occupancy set forth in Section 5-12-160 shall apply to every rented dwelling unit in such buildings within the City of Chicago. No landlord shall bring an action to recover possession of such unit, or avoid renting monthly in order to avoid the application of this chapter. Any willful attempt to avoid application of this chapter by an owner may be punishable by criminal or civil action;

(c) Housing accommodations in any hospital, convent, monastery, extended care facility, asylum or not-for-profit home for the aged, temporary overnight shelter, transitional shelter, or in a dormitory owned and operated by an elementary school, high school or institution of higher learning; student housing accommodations wherein a housing agreement or housing contract is entered into between the student and an institution of higher learning or student housing wherein the institution exercises control or supervision of the students: or student housing owned and operated by a tax exempt organization affiliated with an institution of higher learning.

(d) A dwelling unit that is occupied by a purchaser pursuant to a real estate purchase contract prior to the transfer of title to such property to such purchaser, or by a seller of property pursuant to a real estate purchase contract subsequent to the transfer of title from such seller;

(e) A dwelling unit occupied by an employee of a landlord whose right to occupancy is conditional upon employment in or about the premises; and

(f) A dwelling unit in a cooperative occupied by a holder of a proprietary lease.

Unless some exception under this section of the Chicago Municipal Code applies, every residential rental in the City of Chicago is covered by the RLTO.

The most common exclusion faced by regular Chicago renters is RLTO § 5-12-020(a). Under RLTO § 5-12-020(a) there is no RLTO coverage if the landlord BOTH lives in the building AND there are six or fewer units in the building. This is the "owner-occupied" exclusion

Cases from the Illinois Court of Appeals have clarified that, for purposes of RLTO § 5-12-020(a), a row of townhouses that are under one roof still do not amount to a single "building." Instead, each townhouse is a separate building.

Also, we know that it doesn't matter how many of the units in the building are ACTUALLY being rented out or inhabited. The units all count, as long as they COULD be used as dwelling units. So the RLTO still covers a landlord who occupies her 8-unit building and rents another unit to the tenant, and has 6 empty apartments.

Subsection (c) was recently amended in the summer of 2008 to clarify that student housing need not be both owned AND operated by an institution of higher learning as long as it is "supervised" or "controlled" by the institution of higher learning. This amendment was fairly certainly made in response to class action lawsuits against student housing operated by, but not owned by Columbia College and DePaul University. City council is watching what happens across the street in court.

The cooperative exclusion under subsection (f) is not commonly encountered, but has been successfully avoided in a class action security deposit case filed by DepositLaw in 2006.

Finally, it is important for renters and their attorneys to remember that even if the RLTO does not apply, Illinois Security Deposit Acts may still apply. For example, owner-occupied buildings with five or six apartments are excluded from RLTO coverage, but remain covered by the Illinois Security Deposit Return Act.

Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance