Apartment Conditions & Repair: Rent Reduction Sample Letter
last updated on December 4, 2009 – 4:16 pm5 comments
This letter applies to residents within the city of Chicago only who are covered under the Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance (RLTO). Please see the Exceptions to the RLTO to ensure the law applies to you.
For tenants in suburban Chicagoland, please click here for the law as it applies in your town.
Do you have to give 14 days for the landlord to make the repair before you make the repair and reduce the cost from your rent? Our property manager never makes repairs, and our bathtub will not drain. Waiting for 14 more days will be very difficult. -Thanks
In cases of essential services you can give less time. A bath tub drain could potentially fit that description. You should consult with an attorney. It may depend on such things as do you have another tub or shower, how bad is the drain etc.
John
My apartment has had countless issues over the course of 1 year. To date my tub and kitchen sink drains slow, my ceiling is leaking again,the roof has yet to be properly fixed, my windows are still waiting to be weatherproofed (since I moved in), & my outlets haven’t been repaired, just to name a few. How do I determine the amount I should reduce from my rent until all of these things have been taken care of?
There is no scientific way to do this. At MTO we think that the judges of City Council should set some guidelines. Short of that it may be best to consult an attorney.
There are several issues in your letter. The first is that you sent the letter and in response the landlord fixed several items and halfway fixed others and did not fix the others. I cannot tell from here how much to reduce the rent for the items not fixed at all. Because the landlord fixed some of the problems it should change the amount of your reduction.
As for raising the rent, are there other renters in the building? Did the landlord raise the rent on everyone else. If so then it will be harder to raise a retaliation claim.
I would suggest that you contact an attorney.