landlord – Chicago Evictions

Having tenant troubles? Don’t just “fix the glitch”

April 4, 2013 by Richard Magnone

The scene is from the movie Office Space:

Bob #1: Uh, Milton Waddams.
Dom: Who’s he?
Bob #2: You know, squirrely looking guy. Mumbles a lot.
Dom: Oh, yeah.
Bob #1: Yeah, we can’t actually find a record of him being a current employee here.
Bob #2: I looked into it more deeply, and I found that apparently what happened is that he was laid off five years ago, and no one ever told him about it. But through some glitch in the payroll department, he still gets a paycheck.
Bob #1: So we just went ahead and fixed the glitch.
Lumbergh: Great.
Dom: So, uh, Milton has been let go.
Bob #1: Well, just a second there, professor. We, uh, we fixed the glitch so he won’t be receiving a paycheck anymore so it’ll just work itself out naturally.
Bob #2: We always like to avoid confrontation whenever possible. The problem is solved from your end.

Why does CRLTO compliance matter for landlords?

April 27, 2012 by Richard Magnone

I know. Really, I know. You hate the ordinance. I hate it too. I think it is poorly written, contains lots of ambiguities, and is certainly draconian. The law leaves much room for improvement, however, landlords themselves have brought some of the law’s harshness upon themselves with their past bad acts. Unfortunately, it is the law. Landlords need to comply strictly… before it is too late.

The Chicago Landlord’s New Year’s Resolutions for 2012!

January 4, 2012 by Richard Magnone

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.

2011 Illinois Landlord Tenant Law Year in Reviw

December 20, 2011 by Richard Magnone

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

November 3, 2011 by Richard Magnone

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

September 2, 2011 by Richard Magnone

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.

Illinois landlords now required to provide radon gas disclosure to tenants

July 19, 2011 by Richard Magnone

As I mentioned in a post just a few weeks back, Illinois landlords will have one more disclosure to provide to their tenants beginning in 2012. Governor Quinn recently signed into law certain amendments to the Illinois Radon Awareness Act that impose new disclosure requirements on landlords.

Tough love for landlords

June 7, 2011 by Richard Magnone

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”.

Can a Chicago landlord refuse a sublese?

April 20, 2011 by Richard Magnone

No. That was easy. But, as is usually true in Chicago landlording, there’s much more to the story. What is a sublease anyway? A sublease is merely a further leasing (by the tenant) of already leased property. When a tenant, for whatever reason, is unable to meet lease obligations, that tenant might seek to lease the unit to a tenant of their own- a subtenant. By doing so, the original tenant finds a new party to assist in meeting the lease obligations.

Illinois landlord tenant insurance requirements

April 13, 2011 by Richard Magnone

A pipe accidentally bursts in the closet wall of a rented apartment and a tenant’s property suffers major water damage. The tenant thinks the landlord is responsible and that the landlord’s insurance will cover the tenant’s damaged property. In most cases, the tenant is, unfortunately, mistaken. What kind of rules govern the insurance requirements of landlords and tenants?

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