security deposit complaint

By Bob Rowe

My wife and I live in Illinois and we are having a problem getting our security deposit returned. In Illinois, is the landlord required to pay interest on the deposit and if we file a complaint with RPA, can we charge him those fees? The story is: When we moved in we signed a one year lease. The apt. was never painted when we moved in. The landlord told us if we wanted to paint he would supply the paint and pay us to do so. We opted out of the offer. We lived there for approximately 3 years. During that time we did minor repairs that we never charged him for labor or materials. When we moved in he told us the apt did not leak. That was not true. After 2 yrs he finally fixed the leaks. The bathroom had to be recaulked every 3 months due to black mold(which was a concern b/c we have 3 kids). When we moved out he said the apt was in good condition except the bathroom was dirty and the appliances were dirty. The entire apt was cleaner and in better condition than when we moved in. We moved out Aug.28,2011 and to date still have not received our deposit. We called once, sent letter and finally sent certified letter and still no response.  This leads back to my first 2 questions plus these 2: Is there anything else I can do and is it worth it to file a complaint?

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