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Renting in Illinois -
Not Legal Advice
I. LEASES & BREAKING THEM
Except in
DeKalb,
Illinois apartment leases need not be in writing.
Leases in DeKalb
for residential rentals must be in writing. Everywhere
else in Illinois, if a tenant has no written lease, they are
probably renting on a month-to-month basis. This kind of
lease is valid and enforceable. It still requires written
notice to terminate properly.
Even though a written lease is not a prerequisite to renting, a tenant
may prefer a written lease. Verbal rental agreements are enforceable, but unreliable.
Who promised what exactly? Still, a tenant may want no
written lease to be able to move out on short notice.
Landlords usually want a written lease. A written 12-month
lease is a promise by the tenant to pay 12 months of rent.
Landlords can successfully sue tenants for all the rent due
under a written 12-month lease even if the tenant never moved
in. So there are times when signing a written lease is
good, and times when it's bad.
If a tenant breaks a lease improperly, that
tenant is probably on the hook for rent for
the rest of the lease term. Under no circumstances should
a renter rely on a landlord's VERBAL agreement to let the tenant
break the lease. Nor should the tenant give only a VERBAL
30-day notice to terminate a month-to-month rental. This
is true even if the lease itself isn't in writing. If an
agreement to terminate a lease before its natural expiration
date it isn't in writing, the renter is
foolish to rely on it. That unfortunate renter will owe rent and
may get sued. They'll at least jeopardize their security
deposit. A renter can wind up owing rent for months that
the tenant doesn't even live at the property. A
renter might even have to pay the landlord's lawyer fees
after the landlord sues for rent.
See
VG Marina Mgmt.
Corp. v. Wiener,
371 Ill. App. 3d 201 (2nd Dist. 2007).
There are cases where a tenant simply cannot legally terminate
their lease early, no matter how much they need to. Even
in Chicago. Be careful breaking leases. If you can't
do it right, don't do it.
Roommate problems? Tenants cannot escape a lease they signed with roommates just because
some, but not all, tenants
are violating the lease or making the apartment
disgusting. Tenants on a lease are
jointly and severally liable. That
means the landlord can sue any one of the tenants on a lease
for ALL the rent due under the lease. Yes, you may be
responsible for your deadbeat roommate's rent, even if you paid
all of your rent. So be careful who you sign a lease with.
At least in Chicago, even though you are still stuck to your
roommate for the term of the lease, you may have grounds to
legally
break
the lease and get a fresh start on your own or
with a more responsible roommate. Talk to a Chicago
landlord tenant or renters rights attorney about this option.
Almost all
renters in
Oak Park
have one potential loophole that can get them
out of a long-term written lease whenever the renter wants.
Renters in the rest of Illinois have no certain means to legally
terminate a lease before its written expiration date.
These tenants' best hope is to negotiate some resolution with
their landlord and commit it to signed writing.
II. ARE YOU COVERED BY THE RLTO IN CHICAGO?
TENANTS HOPE SO.
Most apartment, condo, and house rentals in Chicago are covered
by the
RLTO
because the
RLTO
applies to all rental
agreements in the City, written and unwritten,
unless
the rental is subject to some exclusion found under section 020
of the RLTO. That section excludes a number of rentals,
and this discussion touches only on a few of those exclusions.
Tenants are advised to make sure they don't take any action or
inaction in reliance upon the RLTO without consulting an
attorney. It won't turn out well if the RLTO doesn't
apply. The Chicago
RLTO only applies in Chicago; not all of Cook County.
Owner Occupied + < 7 Apartments
The RLTO does not apply to a rental in a
building if
the
owner of the property lives in the building AND
the building has only six units, or fewer.
It does not matter how many of the units are actually being
rented at the time. See
Meyer v. Cohen, 260 Ill. App.
3d 351, 358 (1st Dist. 1993).
A single-family home
will be covered by the
RLTO
in Chicago, because
the owner of the rented house does not live in the rented house.
Only the renter lives in the rented house. Same goes for a
single condo unit rented out in a large building. Even if the condo
landlord only owns one unit in the building,
they are covered by the
RLTO.
See
VG Marina Mgmt. Corp. v. Wiener,
378 Ill. App. 3d 887 (2d Dist. 2008).
The Illinois court of
appeals has held that town-homes in a row under the same roof
are
still separate buildings under the RLTO.
Allen v. Lin, 356 Ill. App. 3d
405, 413 (1st Dist. 2005). So if there is a row of five town-homes and
your landlord lives in one, and you rent the one next-door, you
may still be protected by the
RLTO.
On the other hand, if you rent a unit in a duplex, and the owner
lives in the other unit, you are not protected by the RLTO.
But if the building has seven or more units and the landlord
lives in the same building, you are still protected.
Co-op
The RLTO does not apply to a unit rented by a member of a co-op
that holds a proprietary lease. DepositLaw has dealt with
one situation where the landlord alleged that a huge building
was as co-op,
so not covered by the RLTO. The court decided
that this was not true, because the tenants did not own any
shares in the corporation that owned the building.
Monasteries, School Dorms, Hospitals, Transitional Care
Facilities, Not-for-Profit Homes for the Elderly, Asylums
All of the above are not covered by the RLTO. The only
important clarification is that, if your college dorm is owned
AND operated by the school, then you are
not covered by the RLTO. But if you rent at a private
dorm, it may still be covered. It is also important
to mention that, even though a not-for-profit home for the
elderly is not covered by the RLTO, if it has 25 or more units
and is not "public housing," it may still be covered by the
Illinois Security Deposit Interest Act and
Security Deposit Return Act.
Hotels, Rooming Houses, Bed & Breakfasts
If you rent at a flophouse-type establishment, and pay rent
daily or weekly, you are not protected by the RLTO until you've
rented there more than 32 days in a row. Then, you might
be covered if you start paying a monthly rent. The RLTO is
unclear about what happens if you keep paying weekly or daily
rent for more than 32 days, and never pay a "monthly rent."
It is DepositLaw's opinion that renters at a hotel or
boardinghouse with 25 or more units who give deposits and stay
more than six months are protected by the
Illinois Security Deposit Interest Act regardless of
application of the RLTO.
Purchaser or Seller Pursuant to a Real Estate Purchase Contract
Prior to the Transfer of Title
The definition of "real estate purchase contract"
in this section is regrettably open to interpretation.
Does this exclusion encompass to a rent-to-own situation? How
about an option, or a right of first refusal? Unless
there will be a transfer of title, for sure, according to
the written terms of the contract, tenants renting to buy or
holding other options can reasonably argue they do not have a
"real estate purchase contract." Only the courts or City
Council can resolve ambiguity arising from this exclusion.
Employee of a Landlord Whose Right to Occupancy is Conditional
Upon Employment At the Premises
Tenants who get an apartment because they work on or at the
property are not protected by the RLTO. If you are the
building super, the renter across the hall might be protected by
the RLTO while you aren't. There are situations
encountered by DepositLaw where tenants have leases and pay
rent, but their rent is discounted on account of work the tenant
does at the building. Coverage of these arrangements by
the RLTO is unknown. Those tenants may argue that their
occupancy is not "conditional upon employment" because, if they
just pay the higher rent amount, their employment doesn't
matter. Only the courts or City Council can answer this.
III. RLTO is More Than Just Security Deposit Law
If it applies, there is more to the Chicago
Landlord Tenant Ordinance than just security deposit law.
Chicago law also offers
opportunities to recover damages for excessive late fees,
annoying apartment showings, and retaliatory evictions. A
Chicago lawyer can help get back your security deposit, and
probably more. Chicago apartment laws are more complicated
than just paying interest and returning the security deposit
within 45 days. Chicago landlords
need to know the
Chicago Landlord Tenant
Ordinance Cases, and tenants should too.
IV.
Application of Tenants' Rights Law Outside Chicago in the Rest
of Illinois
With few local exceptions, Apartment rentals in the rest
of Illinois are governed only by the Illinois Security Deposit
Interest Act and Illinois Security Deposit Return Act.
These Acts are not as generous towards tenants as the local
ordinances in
Chicago,
Evanston,
Mount Prospect,
Oak Park,
DeKalb, and
Urbana.
The
Illinois Security Deposit
Interest Act only applies to renters of landlords who
own or manage properties with 25 or more units. The
Illinois Security Deposit
Return Act only applies to renters at buildings with
five or more units. The Illinois
Security Deposit Interest
Act requires that a tenant show their landlord "willfully
failed" to pay interest as required by the Act, or refused.
This makes proving a compensable violation more complicated than in Chicago.
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