DID YOU PAY A SECURITY DEPOSIT?

 In Chicago, many landlords unlawfully accept security deposits, using them as personal revenue instead of using them for their intended use; a security deposit is designed to be used as funding in case any repairs need to be made, or as emergency funding in the very rare instance that a tenant legally abandons the rental unit. 

• Your landlord must disclose to you the banking institution where your security deposit will be held immediately upon accepting such a deposit.
• They are also required, by law, to tender a small amount of interest to you every year.

If your landlord does not abide by these laws, we can help you recover more than your security deposit alone. The Chicago Municipal Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance - our basic Bible here at CTRL - outlines all renters' rights in Chicago and provides for damages in situations of landlord abuse, especially wherein a landlord unlawfully holds onto a security deposit - you are entitled to twice the amount you paid, plus the security deposit itself (we all wish we'd known this in college, when our landlords sneakily held onto our deposits, and disempowered and sheepish, we let them get away with it). 

To learn more about the Chicago Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance, click here...