Is what my landlord doing legal?

[OfficerZulu]

The state I am in is Illinois. Basically, I have the standard mailbox bow letters only and there is a parcel locker for anything bigger than typical business class letters.
I only have a key to open my mailbox but not the parcel locker and when my package was delivered by the mail carrier for this route they did not leave a key inside my mailbox. When I brought this issue up with my landlord I was informed that the parcel locked was "not for tenant use" so I am just wondering if this is legal? This sounds sort of sketchy to me. There is not a doorman on site I can ask to retrieve my package.

Also I was reading on my cities public records of inspections of this address and this building has not passed a single inspection since 2012. There were notes or comments besides each annual inspection each saying something like "excessive insects in basement" "unit without heat" "no hot water" "cracks in floor in need of repair" "paint chipping off wall" etc etc. Heat is required for all apartments in the building as it is written in the lease and law in this state.

With that being said, I'm not sure I am too comfortable giving this landlord rent payments until this issues can be fixed. Basically, is it legal for my landlord to not provide me a key to my own packages? Or provide me with heat in an area that has laws saying properties must provide adequate heat?

Thanks all.

 

[adjusterjack]

I'm not sure I am too comfortable giving this landlord rent payments until this issues can be fixed.

Well, the only thing withholding rent gets you is evicted for non-payment of rent. OTOH, IL has a strict and limited Tenant's Right to Repair and Deduct Statute:

https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2605&ChapterID=62

I suggest that you study it very carefully before you apply it to any one repair.

is it legal for my landlord to not provide me a key to my own packages?

It's legal if there is no law requiring it. Have you checked with the Post Office as to how package delivery should be handled for your building?

As for your heat and other complaints, call the city or county building code enforcement agencies and report them.

In this next link scroll down to Landlord and Tenant and study up.

https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs2.asp?ChapterID=62

 

[FlyingRon]

Depending when the property was built and the number of units, there may not be any obligation for there to be a parcel locker at all. It's at the discretion of the carrier what to do with packages that can't fit in your individual mailbox.

 

[OfficerZulu]

Depending when the property was built and the number of units, there may not be any obligation for there to be a parcel locker at all. It's at the discretion of the carrier what to do with packages that can't fit in your individual mailbox.

I understand that there's no obligation for the parcel locker. What I am having trouble wrapping my head around is my landlord is not giving other tenants access to it and it's not a USPS owned locked so the mail carrier doesn't put a key in the mailboxes when there is a package

 

[Zigner]

I understand that there's no obligation for the parcel locker.

Oh, ok. In that case, the parcel locker is not an issue. I would recommend that you find a company (UPS Store, FedEx Store, local mail-box shop, etc.) that will receive your packages for you. Problem solved.

 

[xylene]

Did your landlord steal your package? What happened to your package?

 

[zddoodah]

I am just wondering if this is legal?

Nothing you described is not legal.

There is not a doorman on site I can ask to retrieve my package.

So...if larger packages are put into the parcel locker and you don't have access, how do you get your packages.

I'm not sure I am too comfortable giving this landlord rent payments until this issues can be fixed.

You haven't clearly described the issue with the parcel locker. As far as inspections, you haven't indicated that any of this has affected you in any way.

is it legal for my landlord [not] to . . . provide me with heat in an area that has laws saying properties must provide adequate heat?

Do you really need others to answer this question for you? Again, though, you haven't said that you don't have adequate heat. Rather, you only said that you read some inspection reports.

If you don't pay rent, your landlord will, presumably, seek to evict you. Simply pointing to inspection reports isn't going to prevent that. Do you have a current lease, or are you month-to-month? If the former, when does the lease term expire? Please describe your communications with your landlord about the heat issue.

the mail carrier doesn't put a key in the mailboxes when there is a package

That would be a rather absurd way to handle the delivery of parcels. What are tenants supposed to do with the key once they've collected their packages? How often do you suppose that key would get lost, stolen or duplicated so that someone could access the locker and steal packages?

 

[xylene]

That would be a rather absurd way to handle the delivery of parcels. What are tenants supposed to do with the key once they've collected their packages? How often do you suppose that key would get lost, stolen or duplicated so that someone could access the locker and steal packages?

I agree with everything you've said but this. You've probably never experienced how a parcel locker usually works if you have these questions. The postal carrier puts the parcel in the locker and closes the door, locking it. A special key is placed in the recipients regular locked mail box. The recipient opens the parcel locker. Once opened the special key cannot be removed from the lock except by the postal carrier. The key, like the key to the mail box itself is a special key and not easily (and not legally) able to be duplicated. This system generally works pretty well.

 

[FlyingRon]

The key, like the key to the mail box itself is a special key and not easily (and not legally) able to be duplicated.

You were doing well until you got to this line. The key that goes into the customer mailbox is the same series as the customer mailbox keys. You can get them duplicated just about anywhere. The key that is restricted is the one the so-called "arrow key" that the mail carrier uses to open the boxes to put mail in and it's the one that releases the captive key on the parcel locker.

Believe me, I've been through this. I seem to have become the HOA mailbox guru here. I've had to replace/repair the customer and parcel locker locks on our boxes.

 

[FarmerJ]

You are free to tape a note to all postal carriers inside your mail box that if there are any packages for you that you will pick them up at the post office and not try to put them into the lndlords package box but you will come in your self if they leave you a notice that they have a package for you. AS far as code compliance goes are any of those work orders for your apartment ? city inspections records can tell you if they are and if you have repairs that need to be done your free to tell inspections and ask them to order the work done.