chicago and cook county Tenant Landlord Lawyer
When you receive your rental agreement, renewal, or oral lease, an official RLTO Summary and Separate Summary must be attached to the rental agreement.
The official RLTO Summary is four (4) pages long with the City of Chicago city seal and Rahm Emanuel’s name at the top. If you didn’t get these exact four (4) pages – you didn’t get the legal CRLTO Summary. This could lead to your Chicago lease termination.
In addition to the RLTO Summary, when you receive your rental agreement, renewal, or oral lease, you must receive an official CRLTO “Separate Summary” containing security deposit rights and listing the current and previous two (2) years security deposit interest rates in Chicago. This is two (2) pages.
Even if the Tenant didn’t pay a security deposit, the Separate Summary shall be given, whether it’s a new lease, a renewal, or an oral lease. You must get BOTH summaries, with the city seal. This is an efficient way to break leases under the Chicago RLTO.
Chicago Landlords use their own forms and may be writing their own interpretation of the law, thus omitting important sections that outline RLTO rights in the Summary.
Tenants whose Landlords violate this section may legally terminate their lease and recover $100.00 pursuant to CRLTO Section 5-12-170. For this reason, hiring a lawyer is important.
