As a former tenant of Dave Cassin of 99 Brandon Av., Glen Ellyn, IL, I'd like to share some things I know about him.
Our final original lease ended on September 30. Dave verbally offered a new lease to us. Since we planned to move at that point, we put in writing that we would be moving. The letter contained an agreement to return the security deposit, which he signed.
Later, he sent us two separate letters in which he justified holding the security deposit due to apartment damage. He refused to supply legible receipts, despite our asking twice. We decided to take him to court. Also, I asked him in writing how he would feel if I sent copies of those receipts to his current tenants, so they can see how he does business with former tenants, and to prevent double dipping. (Charging more than one tenant for the same expense.) He showed that letter to the judge, who asked me not to contact you with receipts, saying it would be harassment. How protecting tenants from an unfair charge is harassment is beyond me, but that was the judge's opinion.
Interestingly, his original letter of refusal cited apartment condition as the reason for withholding the security deposit. However, at the trial, he said it was the lease clause about leaving early. He also put that in his counter claim. The exact words on his counter claim were: Deny owing security deposit in any amount.in other words, he denied that his written word was worth anything! Talk about changing horses mid-stream!
The Judge read the letter agreeing to return the security deposit and stated, An agreement to end a lease doesn't end all clauses in it unless they are specifically mentioned. Nothing was said about returning the security deposit.
I mentioned that a sentence about a security deposit return was specifically stated. The letter said: 'Said' security deposit will be returned. The Judge still ruled against me, saying, This sentence wasn't clear enough. It needed to say, I, David Cassin, will return the security deposit. Even though he signed, I have read and agree, showing he was taking ownership of it, the Judge still didn't think I proved that sentence applied to him.
Guess what Dave said at the trial! That letter had nothing to do with the security deposit. It was all about the $29.00 a day rebate. No kidding! A letter saying, I have read and agree (to return the security deposit) has nothing to do with a security deposit???
But his shall we say interesting thinking on this subject doesn't end there. When we met the day I handed over the $900.00 he won, he asked if I thought he was an honest person.
I said, No.
He asked, Why not? I said, You agreed in writing to return a security deposit, and then went to court and lied about what you put in writing. I don't think perjury is honest.
He asked, But that letter had nothing to do with the security deposit and the judge believed me. What's dishonest about that?
What did that say about his thinking? He doesn't know the difference between having a lie believed and telling the truth in the first place!!!
So, if you rent from David Cassin and plan to end your lease early, here is what I recommend in the contract he signs, assuming you can get him to:
A heading saying what the contract is about, like, MUTUAL AGREEMENT TO TERMINATE THE RESIDENTIAL LEASE BETWEEN (YOUR NAME,) AND DAVID CASSIN.
The date of the contract.
The original and new dates the lease ends.
The names and roles of all parties to the contract in the first sentence. Your name, Dave's, and the words lessee and Lessor.
The sentence about returning the security deposit has to say, I, David Cassin, agree to return the security deposit. Then state the conditions under which it will take place. Don't be surprised if he doesn't sign.
Also, I recommend you be with him when he does his final inspection. Take pictures. Otherwise, we may get away with lying about apartment damage too, just to get extra money from you. He has a reputation among his tenants for not giving back security deposits.
And finally, there are two laws David treats pretty strangely in his leases. They are:
Loss of right to due process.
Leaving early means loss of security deposit.
Since we have due process in this country for a reason, what does it mean when you do business with someone who wants you give it up???
And did you know that in Illinois, you aren't supposed to lose a security deposit for leaving early? Since the judge ruled against us, despite the fact that Dave had an illegal clause in his lease on this matter, WE paid for DAVE'S lie. We paid for the privilege of having him commit perjury against us.
The Judge ignored another law:
A promise to pay something is due because it says so.
And as for Dave as a landlord, due to experiences I had with him, I recommend the following:
If you repeatedly asks who owns which car in back, claiming he forgets, tell him if he continues that subject, you will take action against him for harassment. He constantly engaged in that harassment with us because he didn't want us to own three cars, but never specifically said so. Our most recent lease said no extra cars. (Since legally, unclear writing is usually interpreted to be against the writer, that communication problem was his responsibility.)
It was that harassment that inspired us to move off of his property. We loved the apartment.
If he locks gasoline cans in the hallway closet with the lid off, he is endangering your life. Call the fire department immediately. This is an especially volatile situation if a smoker lives in the building. He will be responsible for the cost to break the closet door to remove the gasoline can.
Don't have a lease clause saying you are responsible to salt an icy driveway. Pay for you is not as important as freedom from an unreasonable liability. Liability for that is his, and should not be on a tenant. A previous tenant was injured falling on ice on the property at 1303 Taft, and successfully sued Dave.
If he shovels snow from the driveway onto the street, making it dangerous to walk in that area, call the police and have him ticketed. Why he thinks that is an appropriate way to get rid of snow is beyond me. I think it is just another way of showing how much disregard he has for the rights of others.
Don't sign a lease with so many illegal clauses. But then, he may not rent to you if you don't. After all, he has a clause in his lease about giving up due process. What does THAT say about him? He almost refused to rent to us in 2001 when we asked for reasonable changes in our lease. However, here is something to think аbout: Do you want a landlord who has a signature that can't be trusted, or who doesn't want to make changes in the lease that comply with the law?
If you cause any damage that Dave can legitimately deduct from your security deposit and he issues you a new lease without doing so, don't ever mention it again. It's only legally part of the current lease, and can't be brought up later. We lost $136.00 for some ten year old damage in an unrecognized and unappreciated effort to be fair. That was no longer our legal responsibility.
Don't discuss key return, as long as you plan to do it before the end of your lease. (One minute before midnight on the last day is on time.)
If he ever has the driveway blocked with either delivery men or his own car when you need to leave, nicely ask him to unblock it, as you have to leave. If he doesn't comply within a reasonable time, such as one minute, tell him you'll call the police. He once allowed delivery men to block it for ten minutes when I had to get to a job interview, after I asked them nicely to move. They ignored me.
When I threatened to call the police, they responded, and he asked, Why do you get so excited? He also used to block the driveway with his car a lot with us, justifying it with, I didn't think anybody was going to use the driveway. Maybe he thought our use of the driveway needed the approval of his schedule.
I never did understand why he lacked the necessary consideration to take just a few extra seconds to walk from the street. (Note: After that episode, I wrote him a letter explaining why I got so excited, ' and also outlined a lot of provocative things he had done in the relationship, such as those mentioned in this letter. I concluded it with, If you don't want to be in so many arguments, don't start them.)
If you mutually decide to terminate the lease early, don't tell him your last day in advance, or allow him to bring painters or other renovators into your apartment before you totally move out for the following reasons:
We did, and were very sorry, because he and prospective tenants were in our way as we were moving out. Dave also stood in the back doorway, blocking it, talking to prospective tenants, when I was frantically moving out, carrying heavy objects down the stairs, on our last day.
This back breaking behavior was all in the hope of giving him as much time as possible to find successive tenants, so we could get our security deposit back. Talk about a waste of time and false trust on our part! He didn't even appreciate that openness on our part. When we discussed it later and I said we did it for him, he yelled, You didn't do it for me. Don't give me that!
He also may put his trash in your dumpster on your last day. Now why would he pick such timing, after knowing several weeks in advance what our last day was? He then warned us, You'll be charged for hauling excess trash away. He knowingly, on our last day in that apartment, deprived us of something we SHOULD have had, per the lease, for our trash, due to occupying it with HIS property. Then he warned us WE would have to pay for hauling it away!
You have a right to return to the apartment for any legal reason as long as the lease is in effect. He wanted our keys early, but we said we wanted to be back for a final look at the apartment. He said, I don't want you back. I thought that was a pretty strange statement to make to somebody who helped him pay his mortgage for ten years. That showed me what a gratitude problem he has. It also showed a problem with false entitlement. I correctly told him that until July 31, I have a legal right to be on the property, and it's not his call.
This attitude of his said to me that he is the type of person who is very nice in a relationship as long as the money is flowing, but as soon as it stops, his niceness stops. We all have a need to trust those who have power over us, as it can be quite scary to ponder what can happen if they use that power unethically. That trust is not always deserved. Unfortunately, those in power are not always those who should be. That is why I wrote this letter.
I hope this letter helped you realize how severely David Cassin disrespects the law, so you can take care of yourself in the face of his illegal behaviors. Your legal rights, and also perhaps your safety and even your life may be at stake.
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