chicago lease termination question/s...

chicago lease termination question/s...

rnc54s@yahoo.com (john)	1/28/2004 9:02:29 AM
i started a new job in texas on 1/12/04 of which i notified my landlord chicgao,illinois) in 12/03...and am having difficulties in getting information concerning my security deposit ($1,493.00 for apartment and $270.00 for the outdoor unassigned parking space). i noticed my lease is correctly dated in typing form 5/1/03 - 4/30/04 but where i signed the guarantee is dated 5/14/04 and was wondering if this voided the lease contract? also there are numerous repairs which i had requested numerous times by telephone, faxes and letters that were never addressed - thus it is impossible to sublet the apartment. i have paid and placed 2 ads in the newspaper, 1 ad on sublet.com and had referrals from some friends but nobody liked the apartment due to the defects. i have taken photographs of the defects and made a list of the repairs. here is the list of repairs never made: the lease is dated 5/01/03 4/30/04 but is signed under "guarantee' 5/14/04 _______________________________________ unsafe exterior: vertical wood for "new" 3-floor porch has cracks lots of cracks and is being held together with strips of metal - snow or ice never removed/treated, especially on back stairs to parking spaces- some of the vertical pieces of wood at railings have fallen off- pest problems: rodents outside plumbing problems: water pressure low - drainage slow - hot water scalding even when Garden shop is not using water (no one there in the winter)- leaking pipes/faucets-especially bathtub; numerous requests to fix have been ignored privacy problems - unwarranted or excess inspections/maintenance - not leaving a notice in apt to say they have been in after they enter for whatever reason radiator valves not working/can't shut heat off and on leak for 2nd time at ceiling where radiator pipe enters the apartment from floor above huge hole in kitchen wall never patched where they knocked out wall to install new gas pipe through the kitchen ceiling to the bathroom down to kitchen stove (kitchen - bathroom common wall)-done while tenant was out of town and no notice left in apt that they had been in it various pipes for gas and water installed but not painted so there are 3 different colors of pipes running along one wall of kitchen and around bathroom walls very ugly, looks like an unfinished construction site leak at toilet was reported 3-4 times; problem was never fixed until tenant took the wet tiles to property manager; by that time, leak started running onto artwork of commercial tenant on first floor- new tiles put in bathroom floor in July 2003 after toilet finally fixed are loose (just lift up) and have shrunk from heat of radiator and glue used to glue them down is all smudged and grainy like sand on a beach- kitchen tiles that are broken off and chipped from years of radiator heat are not replaced although requested numerous times - lack of parking and exploitation of parking victims cracked/falling plaster due to ceiling leak- bathroom pipes- lack of heat- it is turned off when weather gets down to 20's & 30's so you freeze (temp has gotten below temp required by law to be maintained) rusted plumbing/gas pipes- broken window transom above kitchen door- radiator falling through floor in dining room- old sink/cabinets took 4 years to get- had to vacate at your expense for some repair/s- accusations that I was skipping out without paying rent even though I had previously notified him to keep him posted as to anything/everything I was doing/blockage of truck so we couldn't get out until rent was paid/forced to be driven by his employee to post office for rent money/etc.- repairs that were painted never matched correctly- exposed wires on porch anyone can get his head/neck caught in them - not out of reach of children very dangerous when new porch was built, inadequate fire escape until landlord was informed about the risk of life - phone calls never returned- what/why is security deposit on unassigned open air parking spaces on first come, first served basis for??? do i have any remedy or what am i supposed to do? thank you very much, ann



"John A. Weeks III"	1/30/2004 11:34:29 AM
In article <u4gf10d10giu3c9ddi7u5ghfefbhlnoink@4ax.com>, john <rnc54s@yahoo.com> wrote: i started a new job in texas on 1/12/04 of which i notified my landlord chicgao,illinois) in 12/03...and am having difficulties in getting information concerning my security deposit ($1,493.00 for apartment and $270.00 for the outdoor unassigned parking space). the lease is dated 5/01/03 4/30/04 but is signed under "guarantee' 5/14/04 Is the "guarantee" that you speak of in writing? If not, you are likely stuck. The date error is likely not material...it is a simple error, and both parties likely knew what was meant, so it is not likely big enough to have the contract voided. The bottom line is that you entered into a written contract, and you did not perform on your end (ie, you left early). You are responsible for paying the rent until 4/30/04, or if the apartment is released, you are responsible for paying any shortage in rent and any costs incurred in releasing the unit. If you do pay all the rent that is due, and pay it on time, then you have a case for getting your deposit back, but not until after you have satisfied all the lease terms. Most of the issues that you listed are not related to habitability of the property. It would take something like no heat, no water, or serious code violations to claim that the unit was not habitable, and thus not paying the rent. If you were to go this way, your first step would likely be getting the Chicago housing authority or similar agency out to do an inspection. Given that you are now in Texas, this becomes somewhat of a problem to coordinate. I don't bring good news here. All in all, this is likely a fairly expensive lesson in contract law and how leases work. -john- -- ==================================================================== John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john@johnweeks.com Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com ====================================================================

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