Renter (My) Rights in Unincorporated Cook County

[Alex Holmstrom]

Hi all,

I wasn't sure where exactly to post this, so please let me know if there is a better Forum.

I'm looking for the perspective of landlords to understand my rights, options, and best path forward. I have been renting a house in La Grange Highlands since mid-June for approx $3,000/month that is owned by a very large property management company, Invitation Homes. Our experience here, as it relates to the property and management company, has been pretty terrible and littered with issues. I've bullet-pointed the main issues below, trying not to make this too bulky of a post:

- Roof leak that resulted in ceilings and walls being opened up and floors being removed. This "demo'd" condition lasted for several months without action from IH. As a result, we lost access to a portion of the home, including 1 of the 2.5 baths. The roofer mentioned that he had told IH homes previously that the roof needed to be replaced, but IH decided to not fully address the issue.

- Electrical issue that caused us to lose power in most of the kitchen and the other full bath. This overlapped with the roof leak, so we effectively had no fully functional bathroom for several days. The tech that came out mentioned they had been to the property before for electrical issues. Electrical seemed to not be to code.

- We had the water meter and pipes burst in the garage due to a complete lack of insulation and improper construction methods. The plumbers and utility company workers that came to the property said that this issue had happened the previous winter and would continue to happen unless addressed properly. We were without water for several days and IH's initial response about the issue while water was bursting from the meter was that they "contacted a vendor and they don't have anyone available for a couple days" without any concern with contacting additional vendors to address the issue in a timely manner.

- We had to spend our own money and several days cleaning up the property, as grass and weeds were severely overgrown, which we were told would be addressed before move-in but never was and then was not fully addressed.

- Steps were not to code (bottom step tread was approx. 4") causing several falls. Stairs were also collapsing/separating when going up/down. IH Acknowledged the bottom step and said they "aren't going to do anything". Both issues were eventually addressed.

- Backup into bathroom shower/sink. This issue was present on and off since move in. We were told several times they would address it but it took several months.

As a result of these issues, we were forced to use PTO and also work shorter hours, resulting in lost wages, while having to repeatedly make phone calls and plead with IH to address emergency issues, specifically the water issues. On several occasions we were told we would receive calls and emails back but never did. Several techs acknowledged issues have been reoccurring and improperly addressed at the direction of IH. We lost access to portions of the home on several occasions, including bathrooms, had heightened utility bills for water and electrical (dehumidifiers from roof leak, keeping doors to garage open to help heat it to prevent freezing pipes). We lost time and had massive inconvenience from these issues and being present for repeated maintenance.

One of the biggest frustrations is the complete lack of regard for the well-being of others that we have experienced. We did receive a rent credit offer of approx $1,100. This was calculated based on our daily rent x 115 days x 10%. The 10% is for the square footage we lost access to during the roof leak incident. This only addressed the roof leak, and not the other issues, and I feel that simply taking a calualtion based on the percentage of area that we lost access to is insufficient when considering we lost access to a bathroom and had massive inconvenience and health/safety concerns.

Hopefully I didn't ramble too long in my frustration! Just looking for what rights I have and how I can proceed while staying within the law and maximize my return for the issues and suffering.

I'm looking forward to getting into real-estate investing and providing others a much better experience that is deserved as a basic human right.

[Janice Carter]

Several of these issues such as the roof leak, electrical, burst pipes and sewer backup affect habitability, not just inconvenience. You may have grounds to push for additional rent credits beyond square footage calculations, especially where bathrooms, water and power were compromised. That said, if you believe this management pattern is unlikely to improve, the most practical solution may be to move and secure a better managed rental when your lease expires. Sometimes protecting your peace is worth more than pursuing rent credits.