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Tenant
rented a house in Chicago and, after moving out, the landlord did not
send back the deposit within 45 days after the tenant moved out.
The Tenant send the landlord some letters requesting it back.
The landlord kept $500 and never paid interest to the Tenant,
according to the Tenant.
At trial the landlord argued that, although they had
never mentioned interest on the security deposit before, it was
actually calculated by the landlord, and included in her computation
that led her to keep the $500. The trial court did not agree
that the landlord had ever actually paid interest, and so awarded
the tenant two times the security deposit plus costs and attorney
fees.
The landlord appealed. The Court of Appeals did
not feel landlord could show that the trial court was wrong.
Instead, that Court pointed to the landlord's own testimony at the
trial, which contradicted her new explanation for the deposit interest.
The landlord's appeal did manage to shave $1,500
off the $10,000 total, because that Court did not agree with our
characterization of the whole deposit as a "security deposit."
The order from the
appellate court is unpublished pursuant to
Illinois Supreme Court Rule 23, and
so is not precedent. But it is still interesting.
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