(chicago, Illinois) Landlord In Chicago Wants Us To Pay Thousands To Transfer Apartments After Months Of Mold And Safety Problems

I’m a college student renting from MAC Properties in Hyde Park, Chicago

Since moving in, we’ve had a ridiculous number of problems. Our main doorknob broke and trapped us inside for an hour, and we had to use a wrench to get in and out for a week. Maintenance also removed my bedroom door, promised to replace it within 12 hours, and left me without a door for a month.

We’ve reported moisture and mold multiple times, only to be ignored or told it wasn’t mold. Eventually an inspector came and confirmed it was mold, but by then moisture had already damaged our suitcases and other belongings. On top of that, our oven is still unusable despite supposedly being repaired, our window screen was broken, and we’ve had several other maintenance issues.

We’ve submitted countless maintenance requests, some of which were marked completed without actually fixing anything, and even filed a Chicago 311 complaint.

At this point, my roommate and I just want to leave. We found another two-bedroom apartment within MAC Properties at a comparable price, but they’re asking for a $1,000 administrative fee to transfer.
Don't understand why we should have to pay another $1,000 just to get out of an apartment we’ve repeatedly had problems with. Ideally, we’d like the fee waived and help with moving expenses, but otherwise we’d rather terminate our lease and find another landlord.

Does anyone know what rights we have under Chicago tenant law? Can we break our lease over this, or potentially get compensation? Has anyone dealt with something similar?

Location: Chicago, Illinois