Lease Termination and Deposit Return
In this case the the tenants signed a two year lease for a condo unit in Chicago. Tenants gave a $1,035 security deposit and moved in.
A couple months into the rental, the Tenants needed to end their lease early. They were convinced that the condition of the apartment would not make it easy to re-rent or find sublessees, because they could not get the landlord to repair plumbing fixtures.
One of the Tenants had her uncle, a partner at a national law firm, write the landlord a letter terminating the lease. The landlord would not agree to the lease termination. That lawyer told the tenants to contact our office about the case.
We prepared and served the Landlord with a written notice pursuant to the Landlord Tenant Ordinance, which applied to the Tenant's rental. But, like the Tenant's uncle, we also failed to convince the landlord to let the tenants terminate the lease early, or to return the security deposit.
About three months after the Tenants moved out, and after sending a final email requesting return of the deposit, we filed the case.
At trial the Court found that the Tenants had legally terminated the lease through our office, that the deposit had to be returned under RLTO 080, and that the landlord failed to attach required disclosures to the Tenant's lease in violation of the RLTO. The Tenants were awarded three-times their security deposit plus $100 plus costs and attorney fees.
We were able to use the judgment to settle the case with the Landlord after the trial and obtain a favorable resolution.
