It can be tough to get through a frigid Chicago winter. And if your apartment suffers from inadequate heat, the season can be even more difficult to bear.
That’s why Chicago and a number of suburbs have ordinances that not only dictate minimum temperature requirements in apartments, but also put the heat on landlords who fail to meet those levels. Thanks to these laws, the cure for a cold apartment is often as close as the phone.
In Chicago, owners and managers of rental units are required by law to provide heat from September 15th through June 1st, said Gregory W. Knapp, housing conservation attorney with the Lawyers’ Committee for Better Housing in Chicago. The law also requires that apartments meet minimum standards of heat throughout the day.
The temperature must be at least 63 degrees from 10:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m., at least 65 degrees from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and at least 68 degrees from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
“If it feels cold, (renters) should buy thermometers from a hardware store, and place them around the apartment,” said Knapp. “Take average readings over a two-day span.”
The Metropolitan Tenants Organization in Chicago urges renters to create a “heat diary,” said John Bartlett, coordinator of the MTO’s tenants rights hotline. If you feel you’re not getting adequate heat, he said, note the time and temperature in various rooms at different times during the day, so you have a record of the problem.
Once you have proven that temperatures are insufficient, take action.
“If (heat levels are) below the thresholds, call the landlord and try to work it out,” Knapp said. “Tell the landlord he’s not providing the heat required by law, and ask him to fix it.”
After making the call, follow up with a letter to the building owner or operator reporting the problem in writing. Along with your heat diary, keep a copy of the letter on file.
According to Bartlett, you can also request that your landlord provide a space heater. If he or she refuses or doesn’t respond to the request, he said, you’re permitted to purchase a space heater and deduct the expense from the following month’s rent payment.
If it is determined that the heat deficit is due to a problem with the apartment building’s furnace or boiler and the landlord hasn’t responded, you also have the right to hire repair personnel to fix the problem and deduct that cost from the following month’s rent, Bartlett said.
But say you’ve mailed the letter, the problem is not the furnace or boiler and it remains cold in your unit. Then you can deduct an amount from the following month’s rent, he added.
“Consult an attorney or our office to determine the amount deducted,” he said. “(The rent payment) should never be reduced to zero unless the apartment is uninhabitable, and then (renters) don’t have to pay rent” for the days the problem exists. The MTO’s hotline is 773-292-4988.
If the problem continues for longer than 72 hours without a response from the landlord, you can terminate your lease agreement, Bartlett said.
In cases in which calls and letters to building owners or managers do not rectify problems of insufficient heat, or in which apartments have no heat at all, renters are also urged to call the city of Chicago’s 24-hour bilingual hotline at 311. For people with hearing or speech impairments, the TYY number is 312-744-8599.
The city’s Office of Inquiry and Information provides additional operators to handle extra calls when temperatures fall particularly low.
The City of Chicago’s Department of Buildings sends inspectors to apartment buildings where minimum heat requirements are not being met, and can take landlords who violate the heating requirements to court.
Laws similar to those in Chicago protect renters in a number of Chicago suburbs. In Evanston, for instance, apartments must be heated to at least 63 degrees from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., at least 65 degrees from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and at least 68 degrees from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., said James Wolinski, director of community development for the City of Evanston.
If, however, the outside temperature is lower than 10 degrees below zero, Evanston’s ordinance states that the minimum standards do not have to be met so long as the heating units are operating at maximum levels.
If the outside temperature is 10 below zero or above and those heat levels are not being met, Evanston renters should call the Evanston Police Department at 847-866-5000.
“The police department will notify the Property Standards Department within the city,” Wolinski said. “The inspector will call the complainant. If he feels he can handle it by telephone, he’ll call the property owner. In some cases, he will have to go to the site itself and make a determination about the heating problem. If renters are uncomfortable . . . the city can relocate those people to a hotel at the property owner’s expense.”
In cases where no heat is being provided and the landlord does not respond to the problem, Evanston will cite the property owner for failure to meet minimum property standard codes and take him or her to court, Wolinski said.
In Oak Park, temperatures in rental units must be at least 65 degrees from 11:00 p.m. to 6:30 a.m., and at least 70 degrees the rest of the day, said senior housing inspector Nancy Ricketts. She urges Oak Park renters who believe those requirements are not being met to purchase thermometers and place them near inside walls of their apartments, away from windows or radiators, and note the readings in heat diaries.
If those readings show heat levels are insufficient, renters should report the problems to their building owners or managers.
And if the problems aren’t rectified, renters are urged to call the village of Oak Park’s Housing Department at 708-445-3340, extension 2330. “If we feel it’s a valid complaint, we’ll send an inspector out,” Ricketts said. “We can leave a recording thermometer overnight. Normally, the building owners do respond. It’s rare that we have to take them to court.”
Naperville is another suburb that specifies minimum temperatures in rental units. Those requirements are at least 68 degrees from 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., and at least 63 degrees from 11:00 p.m. to 6:30 a.m., said Jim Carroll, chief of the code enforcement division of the Department of Community Development with the City of Naperville.
However, when the temperature outside is below 10 degrees, the building owner or operator is not required to maintain these minimums, provided the heating system is operating at full capacity, with supply valves and dampers in a full open position, said Carroll.
Like their counterparts in other municipalities, renters in Naperville are urged to first bring heat problems to the attention of their landlords. If that doesn’t correct the problem, renters should call the city at 630-420-6693 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
“Tell us how long this has been going on, and how cold it is,” Carroll said. “Make sure the thermometer used is between 2 and 5 feet above the floor level, and it’s important that you keep a record.”
An inspector will be dispatched as soon as reasonably possible, Carroll added. Response to calls is based on the severity of the complaint.
For instance, a call from a mother with small children in an inadequately heated apartment could expect an inspector to be sent immediately.
“We’ll contact the building owner or management company,” said Carroll. “If necessary, we’ll examine the heating plant ourselves. They must repair the heat within 24 hours of the inspection and our giving them notice, or provide at their own expense local hotel or motel accommodations for the residents. We will cite them for each day in violation, and fines can run from $50 to $500 per day.”
