Hello, /r/legaladvice. I am a first time renter in Morton Grove (in Cook County). I signed a lease that began on January 1, 2018, and from the get go, I have been unhappy with my landlord. On January 1, I was promised a fully remodeled and cleaned apartment. When I arrived to pick up my keys, I found that the apartment was not finished, nor was it cleaned. There was no stove installed in the kitchen (but one was promised in the contract) and none of mess from the construction workers (sawdust etc.), nor the prior tenant had been cleaned. I took photographs of the mess and the lack of a stove, posted them to an Imgur album, and wrote an email to the landlord (cc'ing my roommate) documenting the state of the apartment, and highlighting the clause in the contract promising a cleaned and finished kitchen. I received no response, so I called the landlord the next day. He told me he replied to the message and that they would send someone to clean the unit (they did) the stove would be delivered and installed on 1/3 (it was), and that they would not charge me rent for the days which the apartment was uninhabitable. The issue here is that the email the landlord said they sent was never received by me or my roommate. On 1/3, my roommate and I took possession of the unit and began to move in. We did not spend the night of 1/3 there, as we had not moved enough items in. On 1/4, our first night, we noticed that the refrigerator and freezer were not cold. I sent a text to the property manager, and he told me the unit would be delivered and installed on 1/8 (it was).
I have been unhappy, but tolerant about these issues. My real issue lies with cigarette smoke in my apartment coming from the neighboring unit. This neighbor spends all day in their apartment chainsmoking. I brought this up to the property manager today (1/9), and he said there is nothing they can do about it. This apartment was not advertised to us as a smoke-free apartment. The below evidence is my attempt at coming up with a legal argument to have a right to not be exposed to this second hand smoke.
In our lease, there is a clause under the 'Rules and Regulations' section that states the following:
No activity carried on within the Premises or common areas of the property will be permitted which threatens the health, safety or property of any building occupant, or of Landlord.
In doing some googling about my situation, I found the following clause in the PUBLIC HEALTH (410 ILCS 82/) Smoke Free Illinois Act via http://ift.tt/1LKPEZ8 :
The General Assembly also finds that the United States Surgeon General's 2006 report has determined that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke; the scientific evidence that secondhand smoke causes serious diseases, including lung cancer, heart disease, and respiratory illnesses such as bronchitis and asthma, is massive and conclusive...
To me, this states that the state of Illinois recognizes exposure to secondhand smoke as a health risk. I have yet to bring this up with my landlord or with the property manager, but I would like some advice on this part prior to approaching them.
In general, I am unhappy with the property; how it was presented to us and how we have been treated. I am wondering if any behavior or actions I have taken have voided my ability to break the lease, or if that option is still available based upon evidence above. Thank you for your help.
Submitted January 10, 2018 at 01:27AM by vantu http://ift.tt/2FgMZvQ legaladvice
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