Laws protect Chicago renters — they just don’t know it

You think you've finally found it: the perfect Chicago apartment. Sure, it's a little expensive, but it's close to the El, on a street with ample parking, within walking distance from a Jewel-Osco, and it even has a storage closet. It's only after you sign the lease that you learn about the faulty plumbing, the roach problem and the unresponsive landlord.

Are you out of luck until next year? Not necessarily. More than 60 percent of Chicagoans live in rental housing, and most have very explicit renter's rights.

The City of Chicago enacted the Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance twenty years ago to clarify both renters' and landlords' responsibilities. But many tenants still don't know that landlords must respond to complaints within a specified amount of time.<!--more-->

Four years ago, Brianna Bagent, 26, moved to Chicago and rented a 4-bedroom apartment on Oakdale and Racine in Lakeview with three other women. When her apartment's heating unit gave out during the winter, she said her landlord was unresponsive to requests to fix it, blaming the problem on operator error.

"Her solution was to blow on the thermostat in case something was stuck," Bagent said. "We went three weeks without heat before she had the maintenance man fix it."

According to the ordinance, renters have a few options when they experience an interruption in essential services such as heat, electricity, running or hot water, gas or plumbing. As long as the service failure is not the fault of the utility company, the renter can send the landlord written notice of the problem and do one of the following:

1. Request it be fixed within 24 hours. If the landlord doesn't respond, the tenant can withhold rent up to an amount reflecting the reduced value of the property.
2. Pay a contractor to fix the problem, present the receipt to the landlord and deduct the amount from the next month's rent.
3. Be excused from paying rent and find substitute housing until the problem is fixed, or require the landlord to pay for the substitute housing up to the amount of the original rent.
4. Sue the landlord
5. Request the problem be fixed within 72 hours. If the landlord doesn't respond, the tenant can terminate the lease and move out within 30 days.

Bagent said she and her roommates repeatedly experienced problems with their landlord during the two years they lived in their Lakeview apartment. "This was our first time renting an apartment in the city," she said, "and we really didn't know what we were doing and what our rights were."

Landlords have 14 days to respond to a written request to fix minor or major defects in a property that violate the municipal code - such as leaks, unsafe stairs, or faulty fire escapes.

Landlords also must pay tenants interest on security deposits. The interest rate, set annually by the City Comptroller, is 1.71 percent for 2006.

Tenants have legal responsibilities too including changing smoke detector batteries, keeping the apartment safe and clean, and not disturbing other residents.

Renters can find a complete list of their rights and responsibilities in a summary of the ordinance, which the City requires landlords to attach to every lease, or they can find copies of the ordinance at the Office of the City Clerk, or online at the Department of Housing Web site.

Renters can also contact Chicago Rents Right, a program the City started in 2004 to provide education and resources to renters and landlords, by calling 312/742-RENT.

Bagent, who now lives in 3-bedroom apartment in Lincoln Park, said she will be sure to demand her tenant's rights should she experience the same problems as before, but she wishes she'd known them sooner.

"It never really occurred to us that that was something we could do," she said. "We didn't even think about it."