Landlords in Illinois owe their tenants money and I’ll prove it.
The following court case applies to Illinois. However, many or most states have ‘copycat’ laws. If you ever rented an apartment or you know a renter, you & other renters near you (renting from the same landlord), may be owed several hundred dollars each year by your same landlord!
FACT: In January 1999, I went to Small Claims Court against 02 lawyers and I WHOOPED EM’ BOTH SINGLE-HANDED! They had at least 50-years of combined experience of practicing law and all I had was the truth, IL Statutes and my preparation to win my case! I was an ex-tenant and I wasn’t going to take the landlord’s crap and you shouldn’t either!!! Let me briefly give you the whole story. I’ll not name names since these two scumbags might sue me for slander but it’s not slander – it’s the truth! If you’re a scumbag that preys on people (landlords, lawyers, tele-marketers, so-called friends,…) – you’re a SCUMBAG piece of sh!+, plain and simple!!
Summer of 1998, I moved out of an apartment because I just bought a house across town in Belleville, IL. I abided by the lease and gave an “intent to vacate” and a “30-day notice” in writing (registered letter). I also gave an exact date & time for when the apartment would be ready for inspection!
I cleaned the place and by the lease hired a carpet cleaning company to clean the carpet. The day & evening came for apartment inspection but nobody showed-up. 20-30 minutes later I left. I waited and waited for my security deposit – nothing! Two weeks later I sent a registered letter demanding my security deposit and complained that nobody showed-up for the apartment inspection. I waited a week, 02-weeks, 03-weeks… nothing – no reply nothing!
I then decided to take the property management company and the landlord to Small Claims Court. But before I did, I had a hunch that there were laws that protected the rights of tenants! I then spent a whole week going through those law books at the court house searching for laws that would support my case! Now I felt I had the Illinois Statutes that protected me from these scumbags and supported my case. I then proceeded to file my Small Claims Complaint and paid a sheriff to issue the general summons to the defendants.
I waited and waited and then out of the blue – almost 03 1/2 months AFTER I FORMALLY VACATED THE APARTMENT the landlord now states that there is damage to the carpet – 03 1/2 months later!!!! I get a Counter Claim stating this and the landlord (retired lawyer) hired another lawyer! 03 1/2 months after I moved-out, now they claim there’s damage to the apartment????
Doesn’t make sense does it? If I truly damaged the carpet worth $1,500 why wait almost 03 1/2 months to say anything? And AFTER I filed my small claims complaint! Plus, what lawyer but a scumbag would take this case. A reputable lawyer would have said you got no case! You already violated several Landlord-Tenant Illinois Statutes and WHY did you wait almost 03 1/2 months to claim the damage – and especially AFTER the plaintiff filed his small claims complaint! Scumbag lawyer thought he had easy-pickens – a quick $600! Plus I know the landlord who’s a retired lawyer of at least 30-years of practicing law knows all about these Tenant-Landlord Illinois Statutes yet he still violated them, is violating them today and to this day owes a whole bunch of present and past tenants a lot of money – he knows it BUT HIS TENANTS DON’T KNOW HE OWES EM’ ALL A LOT OF MONEY!
Now you know why I call them scumbags, but the best is yet to come – keep reading!!! What a scam!!! I knew what they were up to!! But I was not going to be intimidated by these scumbags or the court system!!
So I immediately got my thoughts together and like a soldier formulated a plan, a strategy. I immediately began preparation for my case. I had no idea what these scumbags were going to conjure-up in court so I had to be ready for anything.
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I Put Myself Through A Shake N’ Bake Law School!
The next day I paid the fees for a jury trial (I felt I had a much better case with a jury instead of a bench trial) and tried to find out when jury trials were going to take place. So for the next 04-months, I sat through three different jury trials and took a lot of notes! I studied the trial process from jury selection to the jury deliberation. I studied how both opposing lawyers presented their case.
I studied their objections, how they direct-examined, cross-examined and re-directed their questions towards their witnesses and opposing witnesses. I studied how the jury reacted, how the judge intervened and settled disputes between both lawyers.
Every spare moment at home I was putting a program together to help guide me through the entire jury trial (from jury selection to jury deliberation). And I spent many many more days in the law library digging up more evidence to support my case!
I even subpoenaed a witness (another tenant) for the plaintiff (me). Well early January 1999 came and I was in the court room ready to go. I was well rehearsed with the jury trial process and very confident I was going to win.
Immediately things didn’t go my way, the jury trial turned into a bench trial because of a technicality. No problem, I was flexible enough to carry-on.
My main case was the Landlord-Tenant Illinois Statutes that supported my claim.
Now here’s the bulk of those statutes that support tenant’s rights. Did you know:
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01) Within 30-days of vacancy, landlord has to give tenant in writing or receipts of why your security deposit is being withheld?
02) Within 45-days of vacancy landlord has to give you in writing or receipts of why security deposit is being withheld or is obligated to refund tenant’s security deposit?
03) If landlord fails to oblige by the above statutes, he now owes tenant DOUBLE DAMAGES – DOUBLE your security deposit?
04) Landlord owns so many units close together (contiguous), he also owes tenant interest on your security deposit? By IL law the tenant’s security deposit is still property of the tenant and any interest accrued belongs to the tenant!
05) Landlord owes tenant court costs, and other fees.
Now I used these Landlord-Tenant Illinois Statutes to win my case! The witness for the plaintiff also helped-out a bit. But through all my “intensive research” there ARE LAWS THAT PROTECT THE TENANT FROM “LANDLORD ABUSE!”
Now get this, the most disgusting thing I heard throughout the trial was the poorly prepared case by the landlord (retired lawyer) and the lawyer he hired! Did you know in some states it’s illegal to have a lawyer represent you in Small Claims Court – because it’s an unfair advantage if only one side is properly represented!!!
But in my case, it seemed like both lawyers with about 50-years of combined experience in practicing law prepared for the case on the elevator on the way up to the courtroom!!! A very very poorly presented case and they wanted more than $600 for “reasonable attorney fees”! WHAT A SCAM!!! Plus, another $2,000+ for a new carpet and labor costs!
The bad part is with anybody else – any other poor tenant they would have “legally” but “wrongfully” won their case because most tenants aren’t prepared to present their case, they don’t know Statutes that protect them, they’re intimidated by scumbag landlords and scumbag lawyers and the entire court process!
The gavel came down and he judge ruled in favor. She told me: “one of the best tenant / landlord cases I have ever heard.” Meaning I did a good job. I owed the landlord (retired lawyer) and his hired lawyer – nothing. But they owed me DOUBLE MY SECURITY DEPOSIT and I got a check real quick! Boy, did I embarrass them two or what!
And you know what, through my research though the Internet, most Landlord-Tenant Statutes copycat / parallel each other throughout the United States!
If you’re a tenant or an ex-tenant and you think you were scammed by your landlord, don’t be intimidated, don’t take any crap off them!
NOTE: When I refer to lawyers and landlords as scumbags, if the shoe fits – fu#&n’ wear it! I am not calling all lawyers and landlords scumbags! Most are dedicated, hard-working folks – but there’s always that 10%! I use to be a landlord myself. I rented out my house and it’s a pain in the ass if you got bad renters.
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