Understanding Disclosures: Landlord Should Disclose Utility Costs
Under Section 12-6-5(B) of the Oak Park Residential Tenant and Landlord Ordinance, the landlord must disclose utility costs.
- The landlord must say who is responsible for paying for which utilities (landlord or tenant).
- If the tenant is responsible for paying utilities directly to the utility company, the landlord must inform in the lease the annual cost of service from the previous 12 months.
- If the tenant is responsible for paying utilities to the landlord, the landlord must inform in the lease the annual cost of service from the previous 12 months.
- EXCEPTION: If the landlord did not own the unit in the previous 12 months, the landlord may instead provide the cost of service for a similar unit.
- EXCEPTION: If the landlord did not pay the utility costs on behalf of the tenant during the previous 12 months, the landlord may instead provide the cost of service for a similar unit OR state that they don’t know the utility costs.
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