As the final seconds ticked down to 2013, landlords all over Chicago anxiously awaited official word of the new security deposit interest rate, and they were not disappointed.  City Comptroller Amer Ahmad soon announced that the rate of interest to be paid on security deposits held more than six…

In this topsy-turvy world of domesticated animals, dog bites have become an all-too-frequent occurrence.  The story unfolds in formulaic fashion: Child approaches dog (typically it’s a child), dog takes exception, dog attacks child, child is rushed to hospital, child ends up permanently…

We at domu strongly believe in the notion that tenants should be required to pay their rent by check and not with cash.  There’s always going to be an unlucky landlord who not-so-coincidentally gets robbed at the precise moment that his pockets are flush with freshly-collected…

Every Chicago landlord’s nightmare scenario involves a tenant who, for whatever reason, stops paying the rent, but without packing up and leaving the rental apartment.  Because the financial loss associated with an eviction can be substantial, diligent Chicago landlords run credit checks (and…

One of the more potent weapons delivered to tenants in the Chicago Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance is the prohibition on retaliatory conduct by landlords.  Section 12-5-150 of the Chicago Municipal Code prohibits a landlord from terminating a tenancy, increasing the rent, commencing an…

The Illinois judiciary recently gave landlords more good reason to abandon security deposits in favor of non-refundable “move-in” fees and mandatory renter’s insurance.  In a case involving the interpretation of the Evanston Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance (which bears striking…

Free rent.  In a competitive market, it’s a powerful tool for leasing vacant apartments.  Sometimes, however, landlords give away months and months of free rent to the folks least deserving: the deadbeat tenants.  Here at domu, we shudder to think that any Chicago tenant could…

Attention, Chicago landlords!  Attention please! Never - we repeat - never lock out a tenant, rekey the lock on the apartment door or interfere with their utilities or even threaten to do these things before consulting with counsel or reading Chicago’s Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance (…

According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 600,000 Americans are hospitalized each year from slip-and-fall injuries.  (Not merely treated, but actually admitted.)  The elderly are disproportionately affected, and the outcomes often range from the breaking of one’s bones to the meeting…