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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Posts
    312

    Default Landlord Withholding Deposit and Demanding More

    My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Illinois

    Hello everyone, I was hoping for some advise to the following;

    Prior to moving out of my apartment, I had agreed upon a day with the landlord to perform an inspection. That day was the final day of July. On that day, the landlord called and said they would be late. They continued to call and say the same. Finally we agreed upon meeting the next day, as they were not able to make it. However, that day arrived and they did not show up. I attempted to call the landlord for a few weeks, everyday, and they never returned my calls.

    My fiancee and I recieved a demand letter 22 days after moving out of the apartment. This letter was sent from a realestate company I had no previous association with, on plain white paper (no attorney letterhead) sent regular mail and a post-it note saying "all questions can be directed to attorney..." with name/number of said attorney.

    This letter stated an inspection was completed on a day in July (we were still living in the apartment on that day, and no inspection was done) and then continued to list obsurd damages to the apartment. Resitution for said damages included $1200 for new carpeting (carpet was only present in the 2 small 9x9 bedrooms) $600 for painting, and another $1200 for a new oven. The letter did not mention an address to send said payment to, nor does it list a timeframe. I have pictures of everything in the apartment, taken the day before we moved out.

    I informed my attorney and he has attempted to contact their attorney, but has not gotten a response back. I have not gotten any return phonecalls from the landlord as well. This silence has gone on for almost 3 weeks now.

    Any advice on what I can do? I know $2000 might not be a ton of money to most people, but it is to me. This literally came out of the blue, as we previously had a great relationship with the landlord the whole year we had lived there.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
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    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Re: Landlord Withholding Deposit and Demanding More

    There's a nice summary of the law here, including when you can potentially claim recovery of double the amount of the security deposit and attorney fees. Discuss with your lawyer whether this is something you should pursue in small claims court, or if it's something where he would sue on your behalf - but be careful how attorney fees are structured if you retain a lawyer because it is easy for fees to exceed the recovery in this type of case and you cannot take for granted that the court will award attorney fees or how easy they will be to recover from the defendant.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Posts
    312

    Default Re: Landlord Withholding Deposit and Demanding More

    Mr Knowitall

    Thank you kindly for the response and link! I will be reviewing the information within adnausium

    An update; I'm assuming the landlord has recieved my attorney's letter, as I recieved a call from him stating he would like to meet tonight (without lawyer present) to settle things.

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