Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Illinois

Subject to any local ordinances, which may actually provide more rights, the Illinois Residential Tenants' Right to Repair Act would be your best bet. It allows you to give the landlord 14 days' notice to repair a situation like this and if the landlord fails to do so you can have it repaired with a contractor of your choice (must be competent, reasonable, licensed, etc.) and deduct up to 1/2 month's rent (max $500). You must notify the landlord by some sort of resticted delivery (certified, registered mail, courier, personal delivery with signed receipt....) AND since this is a matter of health you can reasonably shorten the time period. When you deduct the costs from rent you must provide the landlord with a copy of the paid bill. Before taking these steps you may want to contact the local building department as they may have more helpful laws and ordinances and if it is a matter of life and safety can city the landlord/owner and potentially put a lockout order on the property -- but then you would have to move -- that is called constructive eviction. And of course you can do this if you were the cause of the problem. To handle this properly I strongly urge you to have a local attorney assist with the proper communications, and you should read the law; here's a link: http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2605&ChapterID=62