Illinois rental laws: rental lease agreement for month to month lease?

[egann]

Just signed a lease with a new renter who was to move in Monday August 9th. The lease clearly states that renter give landlord 30 days notice in writting to move out. Anyway have collected a deposit and Monday when she showed up to pick up the keys to move in decided she doesn't want the place. My question is as a landlord what rights do I have? Do I need to return her deposit and move on? Unfortunately I had others that wanted the place as well that I turned away. Thank you for any help you may be able to give me.

Mike

[danil70]

Just signed a lease with a new renter who was to move in Monday August 9th. The lease clearly states that renter give landlord 30 days notice in writting to move out. Anyway have collected a deposit and Monday when she showed up to pick up the keys to move in decided she doesn't want the place. My question is as a landlord what rights do I have? Do I need to return her deposit and move on? Unfortunately I had others that wanted the place as well that I turned away. Thank you for any help you may be able to give me.

Mike

It is tough to say for sure without seeing the exact text of the lease, but from what you describe, when she signed the contract, she agreed to pay for at least the first month, so you SHOULD be able to keep the deposit.

[barend31]

You are not required to refund her any money. If you are unable to re-rent the premises, you are entitled to payment for August AND September. If you are able to re-rent the premises, you are entitled to keep a pro-rated amount of rent for the days of missed rent, plus any expenses you incur in attempting to find a new tenant.

[banys]

You are not required to refund her any money. If you are unable to re-rent the premises, you are entitled to payment for August AND September. If you are able to re-rent the premises, you are entitled to keep a pro-rated amount of rent for the days of missed rent, plus any expenses you incur in attempting to find a new tenant.

Has she signed the lease? If it has already been signed, you have the right to keep the deposit, and you can charge her rent as well. You can choose to hold her responsible for rent for the full lease term, or until you find a new tenant, unless something more specific is stated in the lease. How much you hold her responsible for is up to you. Sounds like since you had to turn others away you may be able to rent it out quickly. In that case I would simply keep her deposit and charge rent until it's re-rented.

If she did not sign the lease yet, you may be able to keep the deposit if its purpose was to hold the unit. When I rented an apartment a couple of years ago, the deposit held the unit for 30 days and then they kept it as the security deposit.