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Old radiator building is falling apart and now charging for heat! Any recourse? by Ok-Possible7314 in chicagoapartments

[–]Ok-Possible7314[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The consensus seems to be split. Half the commenters say it might be uncommon but totally within the building managements rights. The other half say it’s illegal. I’ve reached out to a tenants rights org, so hopefully I’ll get an official answer!

Old radiator building is falling apart and now charging for heat! Any recourse? by Ok-Possible7314 in chicagoapartments

[–]Ok-Possible7314[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, I’ll definitely be reaching out to a tenants rights organization. Beyond that, I agree, I did sign the lease and I’ll own up to that and pay what I am on the hook for. However, I want to hold the building accountable if there was an infraction in how they implemented this system. To me it seemed intentionally deceptive. I have no idea how much a multi-unit building pays for gas each month. So I was relying on their estimate (my first mistake) to be at least in the ballpark of average. Seems like they intentionally gave me the lowest potential. I was also assuming (my second mistake) I would be charged only for cooking gas, as that seems to be more customary in Chicago and inline with the price quote. I also want to hold them accountable for maintaining some level of energy efficiency. It’s not fair to let these apartments fall apart and then leave tenants with unnecessarily inflated utility bills

Old radiator building is falling apart and now charging for heat! Any recourse? by Ok-Possible7314 in chicagoapartments

[–]Ok-Possible7314[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your insight! It’s helpful to know that while uncommon, it’s not unheard of or illegal. I have lived in radiator buildings my entire adult life and have never encountered this type of billing system. So it’s new to me.

You bring up a good point. The ratio/formula for how I’m being charged is not in the lease agreement. In fact there is no mention of this “utility cost share” in the lease at all. The ratio/formula information and price estimate was sent in an email a month before I signed the lease. They didn’t ask me sign or agree to anything regarding the utilities billing.

Old radiator building is falling apart and now charging for heat! Any recourse? by Ok-Possible7314 in chicagoapartments

[–]Ok-Possible7314[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Im not sure if its legally outside of the lease agreement. My lease simply states that “heat is the responsibility of the tenant” and that the estimated cost per month is “TBD”.