Is a “Standard Form Contract” that violates local statutes Legal? Tenant/Landlord Rental Contract?

[christie42]

I’ve been in my apartment going on a year, with a 2 year lease, and what we signed when we moved in was hand written but legally binding agreement.

At the start of this month, we were left a new lease that was written on it “Same as Last Lease” but it was just a standard contract purchased from Staples and in the details were many little details that I know to violate Illinois Tenant Laws such as “Tenant will allow access to landlord upon request” which violates the Illinois statute that says that unless it is an emergency, a landlord must provide tenant with 24 hours notice before coming in to a property.

These are little things, I know, but the guy upstairs has been with this landlord for 13 years and he pretends that HE owns the building and demands to come in to the apartment and schedule professionals to come in for no reason, he called one intrusion a “Pipe Inspection”, which, “The landlord and I like to do once or twice a year just to make sure everything is flowing.”

We called the landlord after he barged in to the apartment after we asked him to not follow the plumber in and looked our apartment from top to bottom and the Landlord said “No… It wasn’t a ‘biannual pipe inspection’, his bathtub was flowing slowly and he said yours was too so I figured I would have the plumber look at both your tubs at the same time.”

But the neighbor used the “Instant Access for Professionals Upon Request” to barge in to our apartment without asking.

Because he has keys, I keep the chain on the back door locked at all times and I replaced the front door chain with a chain that has a lock on it so I can lock it behind me when I leave. If he complains about it, I will know he tried to get in to the apartment while we are out and I can make an official complaint with the landlord.

So anyways, that is my story so far… Can a lease that contains illegal clauses be used to demand entry in to my apartment?

[aingeni]

Any clause in a lease--or any other contract--that violates state or local law is, by nature, unenforceable.

However, contrary to your claim, the State of Illinois does NOT require that a landlord provide 24 hours notice prior to entry. Illinois law is, in fact, entirely silent on the issue of advance notice. (A measure to impose a statewide requirement of 24 hours notice failed in the legislature last year.)

Therefore, unless you happen to live in one of the 5 cities in Illinois with a local ordinance stipulating how much notice you must be given (48 hours in Chicago & Evanston, 24 hours in Urbana & Mt. Prospect, and 1 hour in DeKalb), what is in your lease would govern. If your lease states the landlord can enter at any time, then the landlord can enter at any time.

[kyledyr]

Why did you renew your lease if you have a nut living upstairs?