Tenant withholding rent because repairs took more than 24hrs

[Wonderful Togbey]

Hello BP family,

Thank you for all your inputs that have led me on the path of putting together these blocks towards a building of financial freedom. Here I am once again wanting to fetch from this well of knowledge.

I recently moved to Chicago and have acquired a 3 unit in the Bronzeville area. Things went smoothly for the most part and I was supposed to have inherited what the seller originally described as excellent tenants. I can say that they seemed to be this way for the most part.

I have now closed on the property and while reviewing the files I read some communication between the previous owner and one of the residents that may be cause for concern. They had decided to deduct from their rent two months prior to closing because apparently the owner took too long (48 hours) to fix the water heater which was not properly heating. The previous owner provided them with a letter explaining how there was a first technician on site to fix the issue the day after they reported it who could not resolve the issue. She ended up hiring a second tech who knew what he was doing and fixed the issue the next day. This is the municipal code that the tenant quoted that allows them to withhold rent:

5-12-110(f)(4)“Withhold from the monthly rent an amount that reasonably reflects the reduced value of the premises due to the material noncompliance or failure if the landlord fails to correct the condition within 24 hours after being notified by the tenant; provided, however, that no rent shall be withheld if the failure is due to the inability of the utility provider to provide service”

They ended up withholding 2 days of rent and would not reply to the previous owner’s correspondence afterwards. There was another incident after that where the same tenant supposedly locked himself into a garage and ended up damaging the door lock. The garage is currently provided to them as a convenience to store their items and the previous owner believes the lock was broken on purpose.

It just so happens that their lease ends in a little over 30 days and my original thought after getting through their files was NOT to renew their lease and ask them to vacate at the end of the lease as I wouldn’t want to have to deal with similar issues. However, I’m not sure if a non-renewal of lease would be considered as an eviction and would rather avoid the latter since that’s been postponed and I don’t want to enter a legal battle so soon, especially being new to the Chicago area. The other thought I have is to renew with a Month To Month lease and monitor their behavior so I wouldn’t have to try to fill a vacancy in these times and I believe the tenants are probably good people (teachers) that might have just hit a rough turn? Also have any of you had to deal with the code cited above?

Please advise! Thank you