CHICAGO — Lynn Rye lives in a single-family home on the border of Avondale and Logan Square with five roommates. The squat bungalow is flanked by multi-unit buildings and three-flats.
In July 2021, their landlord raised their rent by $200 a month — effective immediately. Rye remembered the Fair Notice Ordinance, which requires landlords to give advance notice of rent increases.
Rye told their landlord about the ordinance, “but the landlord came back and said, ‘OK, instead of the rent going up $200, four months from now, it’s going to go up $300,’” she said.
When Rye and her roommates reached out for legal aid, they were told they might have a case, but challenging the landlord in court would be a long fight — and there was no guarantee a judge would rule in their favor. They stayed; it took them almost a year to find an affordable place large enough to live together.
Rental prices across the country have surged in recent months, along with inflation. Asking rent in Chicago has increased by 4.5 percent in Chicago in the past year, according to Redfin — but some tenants have seen their rent hiked as much as 20 percent.
Landlords might be increasing rent as they face a possible increase in property taxes, experts said.
Landlords have been raising rents nationwide due to the housing shortage, high demand and inflation driving up operating costs, experts have said. Locally, landlords might be increasing rent as they face a possible increase in property taxes, experts said. Some neighborhoods are becoming less affordable because of an increase in demand, real estate agent Monica Loven said.
Landlords also can hike rents because they want to, Loven said.
“There’s no regulation [on rent increases]. They have the ability to ask for more,” Loven said. “It could very well be a landlord not liking the tenant and using it as a tactic to say, ‘I’d rather you out so I can do some renovations.’”
The spike has led to tenants being forced from their homes — or forced to pay up. Some have said they’re forming tenants unions, organizing and pushing for rent control as a way to keep apartments affordable.
‘I Want To Try To Do What I Can To Prevent This From Happening To Other People’
The Metropolitan Tenants Organization hotline has seen an increase in the number of people calling about rent increases, said John Bartlett, the group’s executive director. His office typically hears about large rent increases — $200 a month or more — in the spring and summer because it’s when tenants tend to move, he said.
Calls to the hotline dipped in 2020 during the eviction moratorium and as landlords offered deals to tenants, but calls doubled from 2019 to 2021 and again in 2022, he said.
When people call the Metropolitan Tenants Organizations’ hotline about a large rent increase, the workers focus on a few things, Bartlett said: They tell them about the laws, which largely give landlords the power to raise rent however much they want. They also ask the tenants if everyone in the building is getting a large increase; if not, it could signal the tenant is being retaliated or discriminated against, which would be illegal, Bartlett said.
Bartlett lets people know about the Fair Notice Ordinance and, when all else fails, he encourages tenants to go back to their landlord with a counteroffer.
“There’s nothing in there that says a tenant can’t come back [with another lower price], especially if they’re a good tenant,” Bartlett said.
That’s what members of the North Spaulding Renters Association did after they found out their landlord was raising rent for several tenants. Tenants groups have become increasingly popular as rents have shot up and residents look for a way to stay in their homes.
Read More: Chicago Rent Is Spiking — So Tenants Are Forming Unions And Pushing For Rent