A sunny summer evening in Chicago is usually full of the smoke from barbecue grills. There is no end to the city's love of open-air cooking. When it comes to grilling in apartment buildings though, you might have to make your burger with a side of yellow mustard... and red tape. Continue reading Is Your Grill Legal?
Renters in bad apartments – or any rented housing for that matter – always have the option to break their lease and move out. However, if you have a fixed term lease (e.g., not month-to-month) you're usually required to either find a subletter or pay a reletting fee to your landlord. If you just up and leave in the middle of the night without notice or finding a replacement, your landlord can come after you for unpaid rent and lease break fees.
However, in Chicago there are six situations where you can actually break a lease without worrying about being penalized or fined by your landlord. They are very specific and require you to follow precise methods in order to legally take advantage of them. In this article we will cover each situation.
Note that this article deals only with Chicago, and should not be interpreted as legal advice in Chicago or anywhere else.
1. You've got proof that you have been assaulted, stalked or threatened in your apartment.
If you live in private rental housing or have a Section 8 voucher, you are covered by the Illinois Safe Homes Act. Residents in public housing projects are not covered.
Victims of domestic violence including dating violence, child abuse, elder abuse, and stalking are allowed to break their lease with 3 days notice before or after they move out. Some restrictions apply...
We're back! Welcome, students, to another chapter from the course handbook of City Renter University: the best choice for those who wish to take their renting skills to the next level. CRU has many different departments. We've previously covered the course offerings in the Department of Apartment Hunting and the Department of Moving and Disagreement.
But perhaps you would like to specialize in another field. After all, apartment hunting and moving are some of the toughest parts of being a renter. So for those of you who would like a different sort of career, today we have the courses offered in the Department of Neighbor Anthropology.
Neighbor anthropology is the study of human beings living in close quarters in urban environments. By studying the behavior of neighbors in high density living arrangements we can obtain special expertise that has applications in fields ranging from human biology and ecology to community development and public policy. The department's programs offer the student one of the best introductions possible to the cultural history of rental populations and inner workings of the contemporary world. Continue reading City Renter University: The Best Fictional Choice in Renter Education (Part III)
