GnauzBookOfRhymes
Superstar
They cant afford to pay the rent u think they can afford good attorneys?
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When you file for an eviction, it becomes a public record and attorneys who represent tenants will reach out to the person being evicted (in the same way that you get contacted by auto accident attorneys). They will talk to the tenants and if they become aware of any wrongdoing by the landlord, they will seek payment/fines during the eviction process and get paid on a contingency basis. The most common way this happens is thru security deposits. Most ppl don't know this (I learned the hard way) but when you take a security deposit (at least here in Chicago/Cook County) you're supposed to put that money in a separate, interest bearing bank account. You're supposed to also pay that interest to the tenant for as long as they're in your unit. Failure to do so = a fine of 3 times the security deposit. If the rent on the unit is $1,200 - that is $3,600 right there that the landlord has to pay out. The attorney will take 40% and all they did was show up to one court date and file a motion. A cpl hours work tops.
There are also many public interest attorneys/legal aid etc options for tenants.


