Need assistance with landlord I'm leasing an arbitrage property from in Glen Ellyn, I

[Tara Sonnabend]

My company leases a property from a private landlord in Glen Ellyn, with permission to sublease. A leak from the wax ring of the toilet was recently discovered and reported. I notified the landlord immediately upon reporting by the tenant, on Saturday, May 25. I asked for it to be addressed as soon as possible, but the landlord stated she would hopefully attend to it the next week, that the damage was already done and it could not be attended to over a holiday weekend. A plumber was scheduled for a service call on May 31, but the call was rescheduled to June 1 due to an emergency call. Remediation arrived today and will put dehumidifiers in the space. After the space is dry, they explained that part of the floor in the bathroom will need to be replaced. Now I have to relocate the tenant, pay for hotel accommodations and the home is not habitable. 

The landlord stated she believes we are responsible for the leak because when we started the lease in November 2022, the leak was not present. She has stated that she will not file an insurance claim and instead expects my company to be responsible for the cost of repairs. I explained that this type of routine maintenance issue is not damage and is not our responsibility, but I can see that I will need help ensuring that she as the landlord is instead held responsible.

Any advice on an attorney/organization to talk to in order to get a letter from an attorney to get the landlord being reasonable or similar instead of turning this into an expensive legal battle?

Thanks in advance!

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Tara Sonnabend:

No attorney is going to fight this on your behalf. The attorney fees would cost a lot more than the repair.

This is why I tell landlords to stay away from arbitrage. No offense, but you want to act like a company or business to make money, but you don't want to take responsibility like a company or business. I'm not saying you are responsible for the repair or damages; I am saying a professional would know what they are responsible for, and they would act accordingly.