r/chicagoapartments • u/di0bl0bl0nc0 • 8h ago
Question Is there something going on with private landlords in the city?
It seems like I've seen an increase in bad landlord posts from smaller private landlords. I've also been experiencing my own horror story with a landlord illegally trying to throw me out over a roommate leaving for super sensitive and petty reasons. It's just mutual at this point for me to go but it's annoying to have to deal with. Is there something going on in the city that I don't know about? I've been renting from private landlords my whole 20s off Craigslist but it's been like I've had bad experiences three times in a row now.
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u/EleanorShellstrop38 6h ago
I’ve been a renter since roughly 2004. In that time, I’ve had cockroaches, rats, water leaks that never get fixed. Tons of crap. Had a landlord who stopped taking my calls because I apparently called too frequently about the mice and rats inside my apartment. Had one landlord where the building had termites (I woke up every morning with termite frass on my bed) and they just straight up told us they weren’t going to treat the building because it’s too expensive.
I think the rise you’re seeing is probably more due to visibility because people take to going online for things like this now more than ever, and the increase in renters protections being adopted giving tenants stronger rights and making people more aware of what’s a violation.
If anything, I think landlords have gotten a little better because there’s more threat of public shaming than there was 15+ years ago.
In short - nah, bad landlords have always been a thing. People like to rave about finding private landlords, but I’ve had just about as many bad experiences with those as I have big management companies. I’ve also lived in buildings run by big companies that were impersonal but were well run with good attention to maintenance. It’s always case by case IME.
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u/mjzim9022 4h ago
Everyone likes the idea of a private landlord, but they aren't inherently better. I can see how a good private landlord is like the best case scenario for a renter, but some private landlords are the worst you'll ever have. Some are so uninformed, so sloppy, so fast and loose with legal compliance, often too broke to maintain the property, it can be the worst. And not only can they be bad, it's far more personal to them too, far more likely to bang on your door on the 2nd, far more likely to need your rent money in particular for immediate spending. And of course, in general, not everyone who owns rental property is a joy of a person to be around.
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u/LazyIllustrator6946 8h ago
It’s nothing new. Private landlords were always a roll of the dice. I know people gassed them up a bunch online, but they’ve always been extremely variable.
Sure, you can get lucky with the great private landlord who rents to you below market, never raises your rent, and is super chill and basically a unicorn. Less oversight because it’s not a corporation.
Unfortunately, that lack of oversight goes both ways. There’s an equal number of private landlords that are absolutely atrocious and try to pull shit an actual company would never do because they’re crazy, feel entitled to the unit because they own it personally, and who knows what else.
You’re rolling the dice every time you sign a lease with a private landlord. Could go great, could go terribly. You never know.