All Forum Posts by: Despina Galanopoulos

We decided to put our Chicago condo up for rent last year after moving out of state. We have awesome tenants, who pay 5 days prior to rent being due and seem to be very vigilant over the unit and building. The unit is in a 9 unit "boutique" condo building (built in 2016) on 5th floor. There are two units per floor. Unfortunately, the unit next to ours was recently sold. The new owners are "in-unit" pot smokers and it seems the smell is getting into the common areas of the building and into our unit specifically. Our tenants have complained to us. I touched base with the HOA president who acknowledged the smell in the elevator but has no inclination to do anything about it. The building's by-laws do not have any regulations about smoking. Chicago recently decriminalized pot use. As someone new to investment real estate, I am looking for some advise. I am planning to push the board again. However, they don't seem to want to touch this issue due to the complexity. A friend suggested we hire an attorney to write a letter to the unit owners asking them to stop smoking or find a way to ventilate it. However, with out bylaws preventing smoking I don't see how that could work. We were hoping to get the owners to resign in May but it doesn't sound like they will. Thanks!