2012 It was generally a good year for Chicago landlords. Rents increased and vacancy rates were low. Compared to 2010 and 2011 when there was a high amount of landlord-tenant legislative activity, 2012 was a pretty tame year for landlords. Although a number of bills were presented to the Illinois legislature, not many new laws were passed, Similarly, at the County and the municipal level, there was lots of smoke related to Cook County’s attempt to require landlords to accept Section 8 tenants. In Chicago, the city counsel proposed protections for tenants affected by foreclosure and municipalities like Skokie and Evanston worked on toughening their landlord registration and inspection requirements, but none of the measures passed.
Landlord
Believe it or not, landlords are people too
That may come as a shock to some tenants. My regular readers might be surprised to know that this blog, despite being landlord-centric, gets lots of attention from tenants. Despite the fact that our firm represents mostly landlords (we do represent some tenants in CRLTO cases by the way), there are plenty of tenants who come here for what I suspect they view as informative, interesting, and useful landlord-tenant information. Even more interesting than the fact that tenants regularly read this blog is the fact that about every six months or so, I get a totally ridiculous comment from a tenant. I usually spare my readers from seeing these, however, I want to share one I just recently received:
No money? No Keys!
Meet Bill. He’s owned a condo in the West Loop for six years. Two years ago, Bill got married. He and his wife just closed on a new home in Wheaton. Bill never intended to own his condo this long, but he could not find a buyer in the hosing bust. He’d still like to sell, but the market is soft. Things were fine when he was living in the condo, but he now owns a house and a condo and two mortgages. Cash is tight and his reserves are running low. Bill puts an ad on Craigslist to find a renter. A few months and fewer showings later, Bill finds a person interested in renting his condo. He’s relieved because his mortgages are due on the 15th and he doesn’t have the cash in hand to make both payments. “There’s only one problem”, the prospective renter explains, “I don’t get paid until the 6th, so I have the first month’s rent, but I don’t have the security deposit”. Bill needs the money to pay his mortgage, so he drafts up a lease with the new tenant and includes a promise that the tenant will pay half of the security deposit on the 6th and the other half of the deposit on the 20th. Bill takes the first month’s rent and hands over keys to his new tenant! Now the trouble starts (after the break).
The Chicago Landlord’s New Year’s Resolutions for 2012!
Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?
Chicago landlords embark on 2012 facing a fresh set of laws and with a new opportunity to turn over a new leaf. There is never a “bad” time to begin to comply with the many landlord tenant laws that plague landlords, but the New Year is as good a time as any. With that in mind, here are the top five New Year’s Resolutions for landlords.
Chicagoland landlord tenant holiday wish list
Were you landlords naughty or nice this year? How about your tenants? As it is the holiday season, I have made up a list of five presents that “nice” Chicagoland landlords should ask for for the coming year.
2011 Illinois Landlord Tenant Law Year in Reviw
2011 was an interesting year in landlord tenant law. While the “shake-up” in new CRLTO law took place in 2010, 2011 was a year full of new state laws regulating landlords and leases. We have a statewide crime free lease law and, beginning in 2011, landlords will have to include Radon disclosures and comply with the lock change statute.
Common sense and the landlord
I hope that the landlords who read this blog know this already: landlords should not ask tenants for sexual favors in return for rent credits. According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has filed a lawsuit against a Richton Park landlord accused of allegedly offering his tenant a reduction … Read more
Guest blog: short sales and Illinois landlords
Short sales? Why talk about short sales? I thought this was a blog about landlording. Well, short sales are becoming an increasing reality for some Illinois landlords. Regularly, I hear tales of woe from landlords living on the brink of foreclosure; landlords who need their tenants to keep paying rent in order to to keep them out of collections. When those tenants stop paying, the landlords fall behind. Oftentimes, landlords call me too late in the game – after the tenants are too far gone and will never catch back up and long after the system cannot compensate the landlord for the tenant’s failure to pay rent. From there, things spiral.
Movement on bedbug issue for Illinois landlords
The Illinois Subcommittee on Bed Bugs is meeting on Wednesday, June 8, 2011 at 9:30am at the DuPage County Health Department Lower Level Conference Room 1 located at 111 N. County Farm Road, Wheaton, Illinois 60187. In an email forwarded to me from the Chicago Creative Investors Association, the CCIA has indicated that “the Illinois … Read more
Tough love for landlords
Landlords, this one may not be easy to take at first, but the truth needs to be told. I promise, it will only hurt a bit and, in the end, the truth will make you a better landlord. Here it comes:
Landlords, please disabuse yourself of the notion that you are a “good guy”.