This letter applies to residents within the city of Chicago only who are covered under the Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance (RLTO). Please see the Exceptions to the RLTO to ensure the law applies to you.
For tenants in suburban Chicagoland, please click here for the law as it applies in your town.
All 3 Comments
Comments are closed.
I received a form letter from my building’s management that they will be showing my apartment. The letter says that “This letter serves as notice to you. Additionally, our agents will be either emailing or calling your preferred number to give you a courtesy call about one hour before actual entry takes place. This courtesy call is IN ADDITION to the notice stated herein.”
I read the RLTO section on landlord entry, and it seems to indicate I should be provided 2 days notice. In practice, it seems that there is 24 hour notice in Chicago.
a) Shouldn’t I be notified each and every entry vs. a blanket notice?
b) Shouldn’t this per entry notice come from the management office and not a third-party leasing agent, like Apartment Finders?
c) If I am not present, is the building required to have one of their staff present? I noticed they seem to give out the key to the third-party agent.
d) In the unlikely case of damage or theft of my belongings, who is responsible?
Thank you.
You are correct in thinking that the landlord should have to provide you with a notice each and every time the landlord or the landlord’s agent intends to enter the unit.
The definition of landlord in the Chicago law would include agents of the owner. It is conceivable that the leasing agent will be considered an agent and thus the landlord.
There is nothing in the law that requires a staff person from the building to be present during the showing of the apartment.
If there is damage or theft, the landlord may be liable. The problem will be documenting who caused the damage.
Well, I failed to use this sample letter above, and I think that was to my detriment because the management didn’t take me seriously with my emails and calls. Probably never got past the property manager.
I have probably experienced at least four to five cases of unlawful entry — I could go back to my voicemails and count them up. I know other tenants with the same issue.
Given that my lease is ending June 30, can I still file for injunctive relief and damages of one-month rent and court costs? Not sure of the cost-benefit. Would be nice to stop this from happening to others.
Thanks.