Christopher J. McGarvey wrote:2006ed

gah, that wasn't a fun read

I seriously thought this was a picture of someone's butt for a few seconds.



I said 'Jesus fucking Christ' out loud




too much internet porn.

Are you guys on a standard Chicago apartment lease? If so, Chicago renter's law allows you to hold and deduct money from rent for services not rendered. It should be in the fine print that your landlord is absolutely responsible for maintaining a vermin-free building, and they will be responsible for any relative damages. That being said, get the fuck out of there if your situation doesn't improve - It's a bad sign of things to come if this is how they handle a problem right out of the gate. Don't let the winter come around before you decide you can't handle living there anymore.

so far there have been no bug attacks since the final exterminator visit.

i keep hearing without giving written notice at the start of this i might have to pay this asshole his money.

Are you renting from a property management company, or do they only own a few buildings?

i am pretty sure he just owns the one building.

I've been through this before - different problem, but equally shitty. They have no leg to stand on when it comes to building maintenance issues. A small property owner in Chicago is petrified of going to court over a broken lease due to these type of infractions.

I know this sounds drastic, but it worked for me:

Tell him that you will move out, call the building inspector, and serve them with a bill covering all damages including reimbursement of security deposit. Stick a notarized, well written letter describing said demands to his chest the next to you run into him. They have now been served (helps if you have a witness). If your relationship doesn't improve right then and there, scrape together the money to get into another building, and put this shit behind you.

Say what you will about the fucked up politics in this city, but Chicago renter's law is on your side when dealing with scumbags like this.

MrFood wrote:

owen wrote:We moved into our new place on July 1st and everything was fine until the second night when my roommate woke up COVERED in bug bites.

The secret is to not let them bite. Just don't allow it. Refuse.

Well you have to start by sleeping "tight" on a good night. What that means I'm not sure. Get really drunk maybe?

Sorry you are dealing with this. Bugs like this are terrible. You and your roommate have every right to be pissed off. However; the landlord is not responsible for your stuff (mattress). The leases are written by the real estate industry and it protects them pretty well. For example; a pipe in your ceiling can explode and ruin everything you own and the landlord is only responsible to fix the pipe and ceiling in a reasonable time frame. As shitty as your landlord seems to be he's done what he is required to do by calling an exterminator. If the exterminator does not fix the problem in a reasonable time frame (3-4 visits maybe?) you may be able to claim that the landlord is forcing you out with what's called a constructive eviction. This is difficult to prove in the case of an infestation and the landlord's exterminator receipts generally would serve as evidence that he's doing everything he can to fix the issue. When I managed real estate we won in court on much less than that. Actually, we almost always won.

Document the problem if it continues. Call him everyday about it if you need to. Document those calls. You might annoy him enough for him to let you out of your lease. If he's just a small time landlord he probably doesn't have the ability to put stuff on your credit report or the wherewithal to hire a lawyer to go after you. If this is the case then just move out. Don't pay the last month rent- just live out your security deposit. Do not do this if you think that the guy might legally go after you for the rent. The landlord almost always wins. Good luck and sorry for your problem.