Rent a room and moved out. The landlord does not return my deposit. Please help (Chicago: lease, attorney)

[Texasm]

Hi. Everyone:

I need you help here. I had worked in Chicago for almost two years. During that time, I rent a room from a female landlord. It is in Buffalo Grove area. There have been several other persons who also rent the rooms. I had lived in the house for 1.5 years. The lease I signed was fixed term for the first year and month by month for the 2nd year. I moved out at the end of this January. And I did notify her two months in advance. Actually she already rent the room out starting 1st day of February.Before I moved out, I asked the landlord for the deposit I paid. She said that she would mail me the deposit after I move out. I asked her son, who was living in the house to check my room and he said that every thing was OK. The landlord, at the time did not live there anymore. Only her son lived there as a guardian. She only came to the house once in a while.

I had left Chicago and return to Texas. One week after I settled down in Texas, I called the landlord. She might recognize my cell phone number and did not even return my phone. I left her message and she never return my phone call. I once tried a different phone to call her. She did answer the phone and told me that she would mail the deposit to me. A month passed I still have not received my deposit. I think since I left Chicago area the landlord will not return my deposit.

Could I take some legal actions, like small claim account? I do have the lease and scanned deposit check ($350). This is my first time to deal with this kind of landlord. Although I left Chicago, I do have friends who may help me to send my request to the court, in Cook County? Also, since 60 days have passed after I moved out the house, is it too late?

Thank you very much for your help.

Dan

[s0nginmyheart]

Security Deposit Return - Illinois, Chicago, Evanston

[knitgirl]

Also, what she is doing, renting out rooms like that might not be legal, so you might want to check that out - call the village of Buffalo Grove to find out and threaten to report her if she doesn't return your deposit.

[Texasm]

Thanks to s0nginmyheart. I found out the website is helpful.

Thanks to knitgirl. First let me answer you questions. The landlord is a Korean lady.
Around July, 2010, I rent a room inside her house. I was the first tenant of her house. Later she has rent other 3-4 rooms to other 3-4 tenants. The house is a two-story building which is around 3,500 sqft. There are 6 rooms in the house, one is in the basement, one is in the 1st floor and 4 in the 2nd floor. The landlord had a clothing shop when I first rent the room from her. Later she closed her shop and now she runs a Korean restaurant. The landlord lived in the house for about 2 months after I moved in. Later she moved out and her son lived there as the guardian of the house after his graduation from a college. These are all the facts I know of, I did not have any experience of renting house and I am not sure if that is legal or not. Thanks again for your help. I will call Buffalo Grove Villege and find out what my options are.


Dan

[knitgirl]

It sounds like she's running an illegal boarding house to me, but I am not a lawyer. They may argue that the tenants are her son's roommates. Let us know what Buffalo Grove says about it.

[Texasm]

Hi.

As stated in the begining of the post, I want to file a law suit against my former landlord. However, I have since left Chicago and there is no chance that I will return to Chicago. Is it still possible to file the small claim in Cook County?

Thanks for anyone's help.

Dan

[soulful]

You will have a very challenging time winning your case unless you are present to appear in court.

The small claims court process is nightmarishly complicated.

Have you written her a letter asking for the deposit? I would do this immediately and remind her that she promised to mail the deposit to you. Perhaps she did mail it and it was misdirected.

I would write a nice letter. Don't make her mad quite yet just in case she mailed it to the wrong address and you want her to send it again.

If she doesn't respond, you could write her a more "firm" letter stating that you plan to contact an attorney if she doesn't return the deposit.

I would suggest having an attorney write her a "demand letter". However, the sum is only 350.00 and the attorney fee will eat up a lot of that money.

good luck to you

[Texasm]

Hi. Soulful:

Thanks for your suggestions. I am afraid that she will not response to my letter either. I called her almost two months ago when I just had left the Chicago area. She even did not answer my phone. I left her message and she did not respond. I once called her through another phone, she did answer that phone call since she is in resturant bussiness and she did not recognize that phone number. She again said that she would mail the deposit. I still have not got anything.

The amount of the deposit does not mean much to me. What make me really upset is that she embezzled my money. I have always been a good tenant in her house, quite, clean. So without going to Chicago personally, I will not have the chance to get the deposit?

What I am thinking is file a law suit against the landlord and ask my friend to represent
me in the court. Is it feasible?

Thanks again for any suggestion.

Dan

[emathias]

I think extortion is your best bet if she owns the entire building. Call her, threaten to call the City inspectors on her unless you get your deposit back within a week or two weeks (depending on how generous you're feeling). Explain that the city can force her to make repairs she may not want to make. That they can fine her for even minor offenses. That just the headache of dealing with inspections will cost her more than your deposit. And if she doesn't send it back, call the City. Maybe you won't get your money back, but at least you'll have some satisfaction that she's suffering for her sins.

[myrc60]

You should send her a certified letter return receipt requested. Once you have receipt she received the letter she's stuck if you pursue this further. You might be able to grant your friend "Power of Attorney" regarding this matter so that they can pursue it in small claims court on your behalf. Call the court and ask them. The clerk should be able to help you figure this out.