Tracey, one more question

Wow, you guys are really great, thank you for the quick response, I was going to add to my post but you responded so Quick

anyway, one more question, will that affect our lease renewal, meaning will we be on some sort of a black list in the renters market, (we will not be in a buyers market for some time), will we be able to find another place.

Another question, can we be reimbursed for any of the time we have lived in a "one" bedroom which was marketed as two (we have not used the second bathroom at all).Can we stay here and demand that they deduct money from the rent--it took us over eight weeks to get settled and the thought of moving is not pleasant. we are thinking of just closing off that bathroom rather than go through the hassle.

Suing L means L won't give you a good reference. This will likely make it harder to find a new place in the future.

To get diminution in rental value damages, you'd have to sue L for failure to remedy a defect in a timely manner & ask for the difference between your actual rent & the FMV rent of the smoke-infested apt (the difference between a 1- & 2-bd/ba). The IL L/T statutes aren't that great, so you'd have to rely on case law & get a lawyer. Check out the Chicago or IL Tenant's Rights books from the library. They have some good stuff in them.

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This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws. tmeek@uswest.net