Question about Chicago laws regarding renter's security deposit (hardwood floor, condo)

[SmartGXL]

I live in Chicago, and am renting a condo from the owner (the original builder, who could not sell the unit after he built it). I am curious to see if anyone knows the rental and security deposit laws enough to know what I should do in this situation.

Recently, the hardwood floor in the master bedroom (outside the master bath) has started to warp in one particular spot. I do not know why it is doing this, so I called the owner and he came by. My original theory, was that maybe the humidity level in the condo has changed, due to the fact that I have been using the gas fireplace a lot; the reason I suspected this was because there are a couple of doors in the condo that are not shutting right, so I figured that the humidity level is causing the wood doors to shrink or expand, and the floor as well.

Anyway, he came to look at it, and said that he thinks there was a puddle of water sitting on the hard wood floor for a long time. I told him that there was never a puddle of water sitting on the floor (that I am aware of, anyway).

I am worried that he is going to blame me for this, and take my security deposit when I move out (possibly 2 months from now), even though I do not think it is my fault.

It is possible that the water may have been coming from underneath the shower and going under the wood; does anyone know what might cause the wood to warp or cup like that? As I mentioned, I am not aware of any water spills on the surface of the wood.

It is also worth mentioning, that in the second bathroom, the shower leaks and is basically unusable. I told him that when I moved in almost 2 years ago, and his response was that that was "a feature" and the only way to use the shower was for me to go buy a piece of plastic from Home Depot and TAPE IT to the bottom of the shower door! Pretty ridiculous. I never bothered to go get the "plastic piece" so have basically not ever used the second shower at all. But today, I mentioned it to him, and so now he is trying to tell me that that particular shower is not designed to be used like a regular shower, that you are supposed to turn your body at a certain angle and stand there the entire time you are in the shower. WRONG!! I even took a shower today and it still leaked. Basically, he tries to defer maintenance, and so now I am paying for a 2-bathroom condo but never able to use the second shower.

So, having described all of that, do I have any legal grounds to not have to lose the security deposit?

[tonythetuna]

This should be all you need to know:

Office of the Chicago City Clerk -- Municipal Code of Chicago: Title 5, Chapter 12 (http://www.chicityclerk.com/tenantsVRSlandlords.php - broken link)

http://www.ihda.org/admin/Upload/Files/propertymgmt/AMforms/clrto.pdf (broken link)

[SmartGXL]

Cool! Thanks!