Start a building group

Print the flyer. Hold one meeting. Then keep a shared record of the problems and the dates. Information only. Not legal advice.

Short guide to tenant rules

Before you post flyers, talk with neighbors you trust about safety. You can hand flyers to neighbors instead of posting them.

Before you start

  • You do not need the app for the first meeting. The flyer and the checklist work on paper.
  • To keep a shared record, your building needs to be on Tenant Tools. Open the notice builder and look at the building list.
  • Not on the list? Ask the person who shared Tenant Tools with you. A steward adds the building and gives your group a building key. Share the key in person, not in a public post.

Organizing is protected

A landlord may not end your lease, raise rent, cut services, refuse to renew, or start an eviction because you asked for repairs in good faith.

  • This also covers good-faith complaints to the City, like 311, and to community groups or tenant unions.
  • Keep the dates. Under Illinois law, if the landlord acts within one year after a good-faith complaint, the law first assumes it is retaliation.
  • If something changes after you ask for repairs or join the group, write down the date. Talk to legal aid or a tenant union.

Rule: RLTO 5-12-150. RLTO Summary, English (City of Chicago, revised December 2023) · Chicago Municipal Code, Chapter 5-12 (full RLTO text) · Illinois Landlord Retaliation Act (Public Act 103-0831)

Tenant meeting

Problems in our building?

Neighbors can work on them together.

  • Many of us have the same problems: heat, leaks, pests, repairs.
  • One letter from many households is harder to ignore than one call.
  • We keep a shared record with dates. No names are needed.
Date
Time
Place
  • Come and listen. You do not have to speak or sign anything.
  • Free. Run by neighbors, not by management.
  • Bring a list of problems in your home, with dates if you have them.
  • Chicago law protects tenants who ask for repairs or join a tenant group.

Chicago tenant rules, in short

Scan the code, or go to:

https://tenants.kanav.net/rights

First meeting checklist

  1. Meet in a place that feels safe. Not the management office.
  2. Use a paper sign-in sheet only if people agree. Keep it with the group. Do not put it in the app.
  3. Go around the room. Each person names the problems they have. Write the problem, not the unit.
  4. Add each problem to the building record, or write it down to add later. Neighbors with the same problem tap "Me too".
  5. Choose one to three problems to start with.
  6. Write the joint letter together. Count the households that sign. The letter shows only the number.
  7. Choose a reply date. Plan the next meeting for soon after that date.
  8. Choose one or two people to keep the building key. They share it in person and ask for a new key if it leaks.
  9. Agree on safety: no names or unit numbers in the group chat. If management asks about the group, you do not have to answer. You can say: "Neighbors are meeting about repairs."
  10. Before everyone leaves, say the date of the next meeting.

After the first meeting

  1. Record: add problems and dates to the building record. Add dated facts as things happen.
  2. Ask together: send the joint letter from the building dashboard.
  3. Follow up: check "Needs follow-up" on the dashboard. Add replies and missed dates.
  4. Inspections: plan a group 311 day for problems that qualify.
  5. Meet again: print the meeting report. Log wins when problems are fixed.

Where to get help

Information only. Not legal advice. Tenant Tools does not share your data with these groups.

Tenant hotlines and legal help

Tenant unions

Tenant unions help neighbors act together. Talk to legal aid before you change how you pay rent.

City lookups

Last checked: Oct 7, 2026