Editor’s note: Four Northern Star editors launched an investigation into the landlord-tenant system at the beginning of the fall semester. This is the Part 1 of a two-part series …

At least four DeKalb landlords have been accused in the past six years of ignoring state and local laws that require them to justify withholding tenants’ security deposits, court records show.

A Northern Star investigation of court documents filed since 1998 revealed tenants initiated 17 cases against four major area landlords alleging violations of security deposit agreements.

These cases against Star Properties, Horizon Management, Mason Properties and Pittsley Realty account for 5 percent of the 322 landlord-tenant disputes filed in DeKalb County in the past six years. These disputes have involved security deposits from about $400 to $4,000.

But the number of legal disputes could be higher if renters were aware of their rights, one NIU legal expert said. A campus survey indicates renters are not fully aware of their rights as a tenant.

Don Henderson, director of NIU’s Students’ Legal Assistance Office, said there is a pervasive myth among NIU students and tenants in the area that they will not get their security deposit back after the term of the lease. This myth, he said, forms a mind-set that leads people not to inquire what their rights are.

“The reality is that tenants have substantial rights,” he said.

Henderson, who has represented many students in landlord-tenant legal disputes, said that because renters have a perception that they will not get money back, precautions essential in protecting oneself legally are not taken.

Landlords are aware of this perception, he said – and when they have years of experience of tenants not asserting their rights, it can affect the way they operate.

The DeKalb Landlord-Tenant Handbook and Chapter 10 of the DeKalb Municipal Code outline legal procedures landlords are required to take when returning a tenant’s security deposit. The municipal code mirrors the Illinois Security Deposit Return Act.

Landlords have 30 days after a tenant moves out to provide an itemized statement of damages, according to the ordinances. This statement must not only include the actual or estimated cost of damages, but also copies of the receipts for repairs already made. If the estimated costs or receipts are not available within this time period, landlords have an additional 30 days to provide tenants with this information.

An unscientific survey of 104 renters revealed 70 percent were not aware that landlords are required to provide tenants with receipts for charges deducted from a security deposit.

Maria Akhtar, a former Horizon tenant, said she was not contacted with a statement or receipts within 30 days after her lease ended. She also did not know that she was supposed to get this information. Horizon is primarily a management company for individual property owners.

The documents Akhtar should have been supplied with not only apply to labor contracted with outside vendors but also work done by a landlord’s staff, Henderson said. If labor is done in-house, the landlord does not have to provide separate receipts, but still must provide complete itemization that includes where the damages are, how many hours the repairs took and charges per hour.

The statements must have enough specific information so the tenant can make a reasonable decision to agree or disagree with the assessed charges, Henderson said.

“It’s itemization, not categorization,” he said.

DeKalb City Attorney Norma Guess also said landlords need to be specific.

“Some of them try to lump things under ‘miscellaneous repairs,’” she said. “You’re definitely entitled to know what those repairs are.”

If landlords do their own repairs, they are allowed to charge reasonable costs. But, Guess said, what is reasonable isn’t spelled out in the municipal code.

The landlord-tenant handbook states that if a landlord has intentionally supplied a false or inaccurate statement and has refused to return the security deposit due within the specified time limits, the landlord can be held liable for twice the amount of the security deposit, plus court costs and attorney fees.

Henderson said that if the landlord gives exaggerated costs or charges for something they don’t actually fix, he, as a lawyer, would work to find a way to get the case into court.

Although the handbook, the municipal code and the Illinois Security Deposit Return Act are all publications easily accessible through a landlord’s office or the Internet, renters often fail to take the time to read it.

Ina Walk, on-site manager for College Housing Group, said she encourages freshman and first-time renters to take a copy of the handbook and also thinks NIU should make a point of giving them to students.

“I think that should be a handout packet,” Walk said.

Several copies of the handbook are available in the College Housing Group office, 1315 W. Lincoln Highway, No. 118.

Akhtar, a senior textiles, apparel and merchandising major, said she never read the handbook – until her lawyer made her.

She filed a lawsuit against building owner Elston Van Steenburgh in August 2003 for $550, which included her $275 security deposit and an additional $275 in damages. The complaint was amended to $750 in September. Horizon is the management agent for Van Steenburgh.

After not receiving a statement regarding her security deposit, Akhtar called the Horizon office and was told she would receive $230 of her $275 back. Because she did not clean the community refrigerator and vacuum properly, $45 would be withheld.

“I didn’t know it was my responsibility to clean a community refrigerator,” Akhtar said. “The place looked better than when I came.”

Akhtar rented a student room in a house where tenants shared community living areas.

She repeatedly called the Horizon office and was told her deposit had been filed, but the office was waiting on Van Steenburgh to mail her a check.

“I was naïve at first,” Akhtar said. “I started to get angry. After a while, I realized I probably wasn’t getting my money back.”

After three months of not receiving anything from Horizon or Van Steenburgh, Akhtar’s parents took him to court. When Van Steenburgh didn’t show up to the hearing on Sept. 23, 2003, the court awarded Akhtar $886, which included additional court costs and attorney fees.

Although Akhtar took her dispute to court, she said she probably isn’t the only one who feels she has been taken advantage of.

“I’m pretty sure if they’re doing it to me, they’re doing it to other people in the complex there,” she said.

Susan McMaster, president of Horizon, said in Akhtar’s case, the security deposit request was sent to the owner, who was not present. They lost track of the request and owned up to the mistake, paying triple the damages, McMaster said. She said Horizon is different from other companies – their integrity is important. When a mistake is made, she said, the company will take responsibility for it.

As of October, Horizon has been named in six lawsuits for alleged security deposit violations. Although the company is named in the court documents, the tenant’s specific building owner is the ultimate person responsible for the lawsuit, not Horizon.

Pittsley Realty, which has had two security deposit lawsuits filed against it in the past six years, did not respond to interview requests. Kathy Laing of Laing Management declined comment on issues involving security deposits, citing that the issue was a “touchy subject.”

To legally dispute a case against a landlord, Henderson said it is important for people to make the right moves to be in a strong position.

“People who use the legal system [to sue landlords] are those who clearly lived up to their obligations,” he said.

He said cases have to be strong and the individual must have enough interest and commitment to the case for it to be brought to court. When it is, there is a good chance the case will be decided in favor of the tenant.

“We have a very good success rate,” Henderson said.

This, however, does not mean he thinks landlords prey on renters who have little or no experience, he said. But, in a college town, the demand for housing is different than that of a place like Chicago, and it creates an advantage for landlords.

In Chicago, he said, if renters don’t like the apartment or they don’t agree with an aspect of the lease, they can go three blocks down and find a different place.

But in DeKalb and other college towns, this is not the case. Leases are, for the most part, on a “take it or leave it” basis, he said.

“When lessors in the area are all keeping a hard line on something, tenants don’t have a lot of options,” Henderson said.

This, he said, makes tenants vulnerable because they basically have to go along with whatever is in the lease.

“It’s an uneven bargaining power,” he said.

Area landlords follow similar lease procedures. Most require tenants to prepay up to three months’ rent before the lease starts. The security deposit is usually equal to one month’s rent.