Illinois Lease Drafting Service
Not All Leases are Created Equal
Many "form" leases are imperfect and most are far from perfect. Contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as a "standard" form lease. Even more mythical and elusive is the "Standard Chicago Lease". Many leases sold at stationary stores, office supply supercenters or on the internet purport to be specific to a certain geographical location such as an "Illinois Lease" or a "Standard Chicago Lease" are merely forms that act as a basic starting point for landlords. Many of these leases yield worse results than having no lease at all!Landlords need to find a fair and reasonable lease that conforms and complies with all applicable laws affecting the lessor's property. More importantly, Landlords need to find a lease that is complete. The basic form lease rarely includes the supplemental forms necessary to comply with the myriad of federal, state, and local laws affecting a landlord's rental unit. Because the law is constantly changing, it is important that a landlord to periodically review and revise any lease agreement. It is rare that an "off the shelf" form would meet the needs of most landlords.
Local laws such as the Chicago Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance, the Evanston Tenant Ordinance, and the Mt. Prospect tenant ordinance can create additional obligations on landlords. These ordinances can make certain common lease provisions void or can require that special disclosures or other provisions be included in a lease. The CRLTO actually prohibits certain provisions from being included in a residential lease and makes a landlord's attempt enforcement of those certain lease provisions (some of which are commonly contained in those "standard" Chicago leases) illegal and subject to penalty!
The CRLTO sets specific requirements on disclosures to be provided at the inception of a lease, implements limitations on late charges, and imposes additional obligations on a landlord that must be embodied in the lease document.
The laws of the State of Illinois impose obligations on certain landlords to make additional disclosures to tenants, among those being the disclosure of insurance information and many common or shared utility issues.
Among the federal requirements on a landlord are the lead based paint disclosure and pamphlet.
We can assist in drafting a lease from scratch or reviewing your current lease and suggesting modifications in a "rider" to be attached to the lease. In addition, we can provide a copy of the lease on disk so that the lease can be used over multiple times.
Services and Fees
We provide lease review and lease drafting services for landlords. We advise landlords in person or over the telephone, depending on our client's preference. For landlord lease review, preparation, and drafting services, we charge an hourly fee of $265 per hour plus any costs incurred. A "typical" lease drafting engagement might take anywhere from two to four hours of time, depending on the landlord's situation.How to Get Started