Know Your Landlord and Building Staff

Whether you are leasing a workspace or a live/work space, know your landlord. Ask other tenants about their experiences with the landlord, or obtain a profile from a real estate agent. If the landlord occupies a portion of the building, you can be somewhat confident that problems will be dealt with quickly and effectively, and that the building will be adequately maintained.

Locate information about potential landlords and management companies by contacting:

• The Cook County Circuit Court. Check for lawsuits filed against the landlord, building owner or management company. Contact 312-603-4743.
• The Chicago branch of the Better Business Bureau (BBB), which compiles data and complaints on business owners across the U.S. and Canada. With nearly 2 million Reliability Reports, which highlight a company’s service record, the Chicago BBB may be able to provide information about the track record of building owners and landlords (residential and commercial). For more information, contact 312-832-0500 or visit the Website.

The local chambers of commerce and other community development organizations may also know which building owners are problematic. See the Community Profiles section of Chapter 15: Chicago’s Neighborhoods for area-specific chambers of commerce and community development organizations.

A variety of individuals and companies will likely maintain the premises. Get to know your property management company, building superintendent manager and maintenance and cleaning staff so that you know exactly where to turn in the case of problems.

Maintaining a good relationship with your landlord may also mean your problems get resolved more quickly. A good relationship will help when it is time to renegotiate your lease. If you have been a cooperative and responsible tenant, the landlord will want you to stay on to save the marketing costs of releasing the space and potential lost revenue if the space sits vacant.