| Assuming
RLTO coverage, if the building you rent in was cited by the City of Chicago
for Building Code violations in the 12 months prior to you entering into a
new rental agreement with a Landlord, the Landlord has to disclose those
citations to you in writing at the time of making the new rental agreement.
Tenants can obtain any code citations cited against their building by
visiting the
Chicago Department
of Buildings at Chicago City Hall, 121 North LaSalle Street, Room 1109.
Tenants will have to fill out a Freedom of Information Request form and pay
a couple dollars for the paperwork. It's worth it.
Also, if any
utility (gas, heat, electricity, water) provider is intending to interrupt
service to your building,
your landlord has to give you a written notice
about it at the time the shutoff is intended. If the Landlord fails to
provide either of the required written disclosures, at the right times:
"the
tenant or prospective tenant shall be entitled to
remedies described in
Section
5-12-090"
One of
the remedies
Section
5-12-090 provides for is that:
"the tenant
shall recover one month's rent or actual
damages whichever is greater."
Because you can't prove real damages from the
landlord's failure to disclose a citation for a leak in another apartment 9
months before you moved in, you choose one-month's-rent-sized damages. |
