Your heats out, it 20F in Chicago and Your landlord is giving you a hard time

If you’ve been struggling with your landlord about the heat not working for days, now it’s 20F/-8C and the heats still not working.

What should you do?

Time to throw the book at them. Violating the heating ordinance in Chicago is an expensive mistake for landlords. From the city’s website:

“The Department of Buildings enforces the Chicago Building Code, which includes the Chicago Heat Ordinance. The Heat Ordinance mandates that during cold weather months landlords supply heat to rental units or to any unit where owners do not have individual control of the heat.

From September 15 through June 1, the temperature inside a rental residence is required to be at least 68 degrees from 8:30 AM to 10:30 PM, and at least 66 degrees from 10:30 PM to 8:30 AM.

Landlords face fines of up to $500 per day, per violation, for each day they do not supply adequate heat. The reason for lack of heat does not matter — landlords must follow the law, and apartments must be heated.

If you are a renter and your landlord is not providing adequate heat or no heat at all, you can contact 311 to file a complaint. The Department of Buildings will inspect your unit and we will take action against delinquent owners.”

Long story short, call 311 immediately – the city doesn’t take these violations lightly.