Just realized my free legal clinic advice on tenant rights was way off

A volunteer at the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services told me last month that my landlord had to give me 30 days notice before raising rent, but after checking the Chicago RLTO myself it's actually 60 days for buildings over 6 units. Has anyone else gotten bad advice from those clinics?

3 comments

3 Comments

kai_chen21d ago

Got bad eviction advice from a free legal aid group once too, total nightmare to fix later.

lewis.brian1d ago

Totally get what you're saying @kai_chen2 but I gotta push back a little here... free legal aid groups are usually just volunteers or law students who mean well but don't always know the local housing court specifics. The real issue is people trust them like they're real lawyers when they're not always licensed to practice in eviction cases. Had a buddy who got told to just stop paying rent and wait for the sheriff, which almost got him a default judgment. Always gotta double check who's giving you advice and what their actual credentials are.

thomasgonzalez1d ago

Used to think those clinics were basically the same as a real lawyer consult. Then my buddy followed some advice from one about a mold issue in his apartment and ended up getting evicted for breach of lease because he stopped paying rent on the advice of a law student who didn't know the local code. Totally changed my mind after seeing that mess play out. You gotta treat it like helpful hints from a neighbor, not a legal guarantee.