Q-I live in an 18-unit apartment building in the city. During the winter, the wind pours through the window frames into my apartment and it’s very difficult to keep the apartment warm. On top of that, I pay for the heat for my apartment and the heating bills are high. What can I do to get the windows repaired?
A-First, you must determine how your windows can be insulated. You can’t install storm windows outside your window because the outside of the building isn’t under your control.
Therefore, you should determine how you can insulate your windows from the interior of your apartment. Once you know the options available, and the related costs, you can determine the remedies available to you.
If the insulating costs are relatively minor, you have the right to have the work performed and to deduct the expense from your rent.
The City of Chicago Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance provides that for minor defects, you must give the landlord a 14-day notice requesting that the repairs be made. If the landlord doesn’t comply within that 14 days, you can spend the greater of $500 or half of one month’s rent to make the repairs.
As an alternative, if the landlord doesn’t abide by a 14-day notice requesting the repairs, you have the right to withhold an amount from your rent that reflects how much the window insulation problems reduce the value of your apartment. In your notice, you have to notify your landlord of your intention to withhold a portion of the rent if he doesn’t comply with your repair request.
If the window situation makes your apartment uninhabitable, and you reasonably believe you must move out of the apartment, you can serve a 14-day notice on the landlord indicating your intention to terminate your rental agreement and move out. In using this type of notice, you must deliver possession of the apartment to the landlord when your notice specifies. Otherwise, the notice is deemed withdrawn and your lease terms remain in effect.
Also, the ordinance requires that the date you specify for terminating your rental agreement and moving out must be within 30 days after expiration of the time period specified in the notice. Thus, if you give the landlord 14 days to remedy the condition, the time for surrender of the apartment must be on or before 30 days after expiration of the 14 days.
The ordinance states that if you use any of these remedies, you may also be entitled to recover damages against the landlord, to the extent of any economic losses you might have suffered. These economic losses might include your moving costs and, if your new apartment’s rent is higher, the difference between your present rent and your new apartment’s. Please note, however, that if you claim repayment for the rent differential, you probably would be entitled to it for only the months that would have remained under your old lease.
While the ordinance also provides for injunctive relief against the landlord, except in rare cases, the costs and legal requirements involved in obtaining such relief make this remedy impractical.
Workout room closed
Q-When I moved into an apartment complex in the suburbs, one of the selling points was that there was an exercise and workout room. I used the room almost daily.
The room has now been closed and I have been forced to join a health club to use the same facilities. Can I deduct the cost of the health club membership from my rent?
A-Probably not. While there was clearly some value in the exercise room, those facilities probably do not constitute a large portion of the value of your apartment. While the facilities’ value to you might have been greater than to fellow tenants who didn’t use them, you cannot attribute a proportion of the rent for the apartment equal to the value of a health club membership.
There is some case law in Illinois that might justify deducting a part of the rent attributable to loss of value due to loss of the exercise room facilities. However, the deduction, if any, would have to be based on the health facilities’ value as compared to the total value of the rent.
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Robert A. Boron, a Chicago attorney who specializes in leasing matters, writes about landlord and tenant issues for the Tribune. Questions to him can be addressed to Rental Q&A, Your Place section, Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60611. Sorry, but he cannot make personal replies.
