Drawing interest on your security deposit

Monday’s focus: Residential Real Estate Law

Under the Chicago Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance, tenants have the right to receive interest or credit for interest earned on security deposits every 12 months. If the landlord fails to do this, tenants are entitled to a return of the security deposit, plus other penalties. If a landlord is holding a security deposit for more than 6 months, he or she has to pay interest on the security deposit in an amount consistent with the interest rate dictated by the city comptroller for a given year. At the end of each 12 month period of the tenancy, the landlord has to pay the interest earned or credit the tenant for the interest on the next monthly rent due, and must do so within 30 days. Always remember that a security deposit remains the tenant’s property. The Ordinance has strict rules about how a landlord must handle a security deposit. The landlord’s failure to comply with the Ordinance entitles a tenant to recover up to twice the amount of the security deposit, plus interest, from the landlord.

Talk Like A Lawyer

Real property: the ground an anything permanently attached to it, including land, buildings, and growing trees, and the airspace above the ground

Closing Argument

“Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens. Circumstances and situations do color life but you have been given the mind to choose what the color shall be.” — John Homer Miller

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Jonathan Dixon is an attorney in Chicago and the principal of the Law Offices of Jonathan Dixon, P.C. , practicing in the areas of real estate law, landlord/tenant law, condo law, small business and corporate law, probate law, estate planning (including wills, trust, powers of attorney, and living wills), and divorce and family law. Jonathan Dixon’s practice is limited to Illinois, and chiefly to the Chicago area.

In the area of real estate law, Jonathan Dixon represents home sellers and home buyers in residential real estate transactions, and both landlords and tenants in landlord/tenant law, including all aspects of the Chicago Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance.

The information provided in this blog is intended for informational purposes, and is not intended as legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship with Jonathan Dixon or the Law Offices of Jonathan Dixon, P.C. If you have a legal question or would like to consult with Jonathan Dixon about your specific legal needs, please call (312) 217-0321 or email askthelawyer@yourpersonallawyer.com.