Since I’ve been a renter in Chicago for the past ten years, I’ve lived in 9 different apartments and experienced a WIDE variety of landlords – from the BEST to the WORST.
What makes a good landlord? Number one: Be available! In my first apartment there was a huge rainstorm and it broke our dining room window, causing our place to flood. We called our landlord and he was there with his crew within 30 minutes. Awesome.
In the middle of the spectrum is the landlord who is only semi-responsive. I was living with one other roommate when my place got robbed. Not only did the “robbers” break our back sliding door, they ransacked our whole place. When we told the landlord, he acted as though it was our fault and took five days to fix the back door. Needless to say, we broke that lease and moved out within two weeks. If he would’ve been on top of it and fixed it that day, maybe we would’ve stayed. His loss!
The worst landlord I’ve ever had was the one who refused to return my security deposit. This happens more often than one would think. I found a lawyer who specialized in tenant rights; he said this was a very common case. We ended up winning our court case and because my landlord wouldn’t give me my original security deposit of $1650, he was ordered to pay $5,386 to me and $5,080 to my lawyer. Let this be a lesson to landlords out there – think twice about the consequences before you try to withhold money from your tenants.
We all know there are loads of ways for landlords to screen tenants, but what about the other way around? Review My Landlord and DoNotRent.com allow renters to upload and read reviews on current and past landlords and apartment buildings. Also, landlords who collect rent online are always at the top of my list. It might be good to check before signing the lease on your next place!
