- Jurisdiction
- Illinois
Hello,
A few months ago, my wife and I heard scratching in the ceiling of our apartment, and assumed it was just a squirrel that had found its way into the attic (this is a rather old building, so we knew it would probably be easy for this to happen). Since then though, we had been hearing the occasional scratching in the ceiling, and then the walls. Fast forward to about last month, and we heard scratching coming from one of the bedroom cabinets (they are made into the wall).
In an attempt to see what the animal was (so we would know more information before we called our landlord / animal control), I had opened the cabinet door slightly and shined a flashlight in to investigate. After not seeing anything, I was about to shut the door again when a bat flew right at my face. I quickly shut the door and called our landlord to have these bats taken out of the apartment. He sent over the repair guy, who had no idea what to do (understandably), and wasn't able to find the bat in the cabinet. They then called animal control, who told them (and later me), that they were not allowed to remove the bats, by Illinois law, until the weather warmed up.
So here we are, living in an apartment with bats crawling around in the walls and ceiling, leaving bat guano behind them (which has been linked to multiple health issues). My wife and I are afraid that we are going to get bitten by one of these bats that eventually makes its way into the apartment, and will have to get an expensive rabies shot, which we honestly cannot afford right now. We are uncomfortable in our own home, and just want to move out, but after looking at our contract, we noticed the following clause (spelling is exactly as shown below):
"This agreement is for 1 calendar year of the move in date. (After 12 months, tenancy of the unit will be switched to a month-to-month status). Deposit will be lost and an EXIT FEE of one month's rent will apply if resident fails to stay for one year. Your will be liable for the remaining term of the lease without paying exit fee."
We will pay the exit fee if we need to, but we cannot afford to pay the rest of our rent upfront (we still have another 5 months before our lease expires), and pay the additional fees to rent another apartment through someone else.
Does anyone have any advice on how we can move out, or possible interpretation of the clause shown? We are afraid to talk to the landlord before seeking any advice since he has been known to be quite aggressive towards his tenants, and we are afraid of being evicted as a result.
A few months ago, my wife and I heard scratching in the ceiling of our apartment, and assumed it was just a squirrel that had found its way into the attic (this is a rather old building, so we knew it would probably be easy for this to happen). Since then though, we had been hearing the occasional scratching in the ceiling, and then the walls. Fast forward to about last month, and we heard scratching coming from one of the bedroom cabinets (they are made into the wall).
In an attempt to see what the animal was (so we would know more information before we called our landlord / animal control), I had opened the cabinet door slightly and shined a flashlight in to investigate. After not seeing anything, I was about to shut the door again when a bat flew right at my face. I quickly shut the door and called our landlord to have these bats taken out of the apartment. He sent over the repair guy, who had no idea what to do (understandably), and wasn't able to find the bat in the cabinet. They then called animal control, who told them (and later me), that they were not allowed to remove the bats, by Illinois law, until the weather warmed up.
So here we are, living in an apartment with bats crawling around in the walls and ceiling, leaving bat guano behind them (which has been linked to multiple health issues). My wife and I are afraid that we are going to get bitten by one of these bats that eventually makes its way into the apartment, and will have to get an expensive rabies shot, which we honestly cannot afford right now. We are uncomfortable in our own home, and just want to move out, but after looking at our contract, we noticed the following clause (spelling is exactly as shown below):
"This agreement is for 1 calendar year of the move in date. (After 12 months, tenancy of the unit will be switched to a month-to-month status). Deposit will be lost and an EXIT FEE of one month's rent will apply if resident fails to stay for one year. Your will be liable for the remaining term of the lease without paying exit fee."
We will pay the exit fee if we need to, but we cannot afford to pay the rest of our rent upfront (we still have another 5 months before our lease expires), and pay the additional fees to rent another apartment through someone else.
Does anyone have any advice on how we can move out, or possible interpretation of the clause shown? We are afraid to talk to the landlord before seeking any advice since he has been known to be quite aggressive towards his tenants, and we are afraid of being evicted as a result.
