Report

Illinois tenant alert

Recovering renters are legal tenants.

If you pay to live in a sober living home, you are almost certainly a tenant under Illinois law. "Guest agreements" that make you sign away your rights are void, and no house manager can put you on the street the same day.

Know your rights Report an operator

Know your rights

A "sober living" label doesn't cancel your rights

Licensed treatment facilities play by different rules, and that's exactly why some housing operators pretend to be one. If the place you pay to live isn't a licensed facility, these protections apply to you.

  • 01

    Pay for a room, and you're a tenant. Full stop.

    Calling rent a "donation," "program fee" or "house dues" doesn't change what it is. Neither does calling you a "guest," "client" or "resident." Under Illinois law, paying to live somewhere makes you a tenant.

    Illinois Eviction Act, 735 ILCS 5/9

  • 02

    Only a judge can evict you

    Changing the door code, packing up your things, or telling you to be gone "today" without a court order is an illegal lockout. In Cook County, only the Sheriff enforces an eviction order.

    735 ILCS 5/9 · Chicago RLTO § 5-12-160

  • 03

    A waiver can't erase your rights

    A form saying you "do not have renters' rights" doesn't override state law. In Chicago and suburban Cook County, rental terms that waive tenant protections are unenforceable.

    Chicago RLTO § 5-12-140 · Cook County RTLO

  • 04

    Breaking a house rule still means court

    Even if an operator says you broke a rule, they must give written notice and win an eviction case. A rule violation is never a license for a same-day lockout.

    735 ILCS 5/9-210

  • 05

    Reporting problems is protected

    A landlord can't threaten, harass or evict you for reporting code violations to the city, or for talking with other tenants about your rights.

    Retaliatory Eviction Act, 765 ILCS 720 · RLTO § 5-12-150

  • 06

    Recovery is protected by fair housing law

    People in recovery from a substance use disorder are protected from housing discrimination as people with a disability, at both the federal and state level.

    Fair Housing Act · Illinois Human Rights Act

Red flags

The sober-living loophole

Some operators borrow the language of recovery to run unlicensed rooming houses outside the law. If your house does these things, you're not alone, and it's worth talking to legal aid.

  • Rent called a "donation"

    Mandatory weekly payments are booked as voluntary charitable contributions.

  • Illegal waivers of tenant rights

    You're made to sign a form saying you have no renters' rights and must leave "that same day" if asked.

  • Clinical interference

    Staff with no clinical license lecture you about their "program," second-guess your doctors, and use eviction threats to enforce their idea of recovery.

  • False statements to police

    Officers are told you broke program rules, so an illegal lockout looks like a routine discharge, even though the house isn't a licensed program.

  • Faith or meetings under threat

    You must hit meeting quotas or attend religious activities, or lose your bed.

  • Packed, unsafe buildings

    Dozens of people in a small apartment building, with unpermitted partitions, missing smoke detectors and ungrounded wiring.

  • Retaliation for speaking up

    Threats and lockouts as soon as management learns who complained.

Case files

What the records show

These summaries come from complaints filed with a court and with government agencies. They are allegations; no court or agency has ruled on them yet. Read the filings and decide for yourself.

Complaints filed

Normandy House, Inc.

Des Plaines and Chicago · Complaints filed with the IRS, the Illinois Attorney General and the City of Des Plaines

  • $551,024 in 2025 resident payments reported as "contributions," according to the IRS complaint
  • $366,000 paid out as "rent expense" in 2025, which the complaint says went to properties tied to the organization's president
  • $2.4M+ in "contributions" reported since 2021, which the complaint calls misclassified rent
  • Residents sign written rules calling them "guests" who "do not have renters' rights." Anyone asked to leave must "leave that same day."
  • The IRS complaint alleges that mandatory weekly fees are labeled donations, and that the organization answered "No" to related-party transactions on its Form 990.
  • Reports to Des Plaines describe a building assessed as four units housing roughly three dozen people, with missing smoke detectors and ungrounded outlets. The city routed requests #4015–#4020 to Fire Prevention and building inspectors.
  • A civil rights complaint to the Attorney General alleges residents are pushed into faith-based activities under threat of immediate eviction.
  • The complainant reports that the day after city inspectors visited, a house manager entered his unit unannounced, demanded an immediate drug test, and threatened to remove him that day.
Read the filings
Google review of Normandy House Sober Living: '$1,000 a month. It's a 501C3 that hides behind the fact that they charge a RENT payment that they refer to as a Donation per week.'
Public Google review, filed as Exhibit C to the IRS complaint. Reviewer's name blurred.

Civil complaint

Stairway to Freedom LLC & Phoebe 649 Investments LLC

Chicago · Verified complaint, Sherrick v. Gore et al., Circuit Court of Cook County

  • The complaint alleges that on March 26, 2026, one day after the tenant sent a written cease-and-desist letter, staff changed the electronic door code and locked him out in freezing weather, without any court order.
  • It alleges staff told Chicago police the removal was for breaking the rules of a treatment program, and that the exchange is on police body-camera footage.
  • It alleges the tenant was rented a basement unit where groundwater leaked into the bedroom through a failing foundation.
  • It alleges that after a staff member hit another resident, the program director texted the tenant to "keep this to yourself."
  • It alleges that once the tenant prepared to sue, the owner called and threatened a counterclaim accusing him of taking $25,000 from a safe.
Read the complaint (PDF)
Text message: 'It's Allan the director of Stairway. Call me back please. Keep this to yourself also.'
Text message filed as Exhibit D to the complaint. Phone numbers redacted.

Fighting back

One tenant's paper trail

Every step below is documented. Writing things down, and sending them to the right agency, is how renters turn "your word against theirs" into a record.

  1. June 2025

    Rents a basement room at a Chicago sober living home.

  2. March 25, 2026

    Sends a written cease-and-desist over harassment and unannounced room entries.

  3. March 26, 2026

    Locked out the next day, with no court order.

  4. July 20, 2026

    Files an IRS tax-exempt organization complaint against Normandy House, Inc.

  5. August 13, 2026

    Signs a verified civil complaint against Stairway to Freedom and related parties.

  6. October 25, 2026

    Files a civil rights complaint with the Illinois Attorney General.

  7. October 26, 2026

    Files five reports with the City of Des Plaines covering fire safety, unpermitted construction, overcrowding, and the rental scheme.

  8. October 28, 2026

    City inspectors visit the building.

  9. October 29, 2026

    Threatened with same-day removal. Reports the retaliation to the city in writing and serves a cease-and-desist.

Document library

Read the filings

Copies of complaints as submitted. Other people's names and phone numbers have been redacted.

  • Verified Complaint: Sherrick v. Gore et al. Circuit Court of Cook County · 12 pages Open PDF
  • IRS Form 13909 with Exhibits A–D Tax-exempt organization complaint, Normandy House, Inc. · 39 pages Open PDF
  • Charitable Trust Complaint Illinois Attorney General · 2 pages Open PDF
  • Civil Rights Complaint (redacted) Illinois Attorney General · 3 pages Open PDF
  • Request #4015: Fire code violation City of Des Plaines, Fire Prevention Open PDF
  • Request #4016: Unpermitted construction City of Des Plaines, Community & Economic Development Open PDF
  • Request #4017: Rental dwelling City of Des Plaines, Community & Economic Development Open PDF
  • Request #4018: Business concerns City of Des Plaines, Community & Economic Development Open PDF
  • Request #4020: Overcrowding City of Des Plaines, Community & Economic Development Open PDF

Take action

Report a bad operator

One complaint is a story. A stack of them is a pattern that agencies have to act on. Attach photos, receipts and any rules or contracts you were made to sign.

Get help

Free legal help

You don't have to figure this out alone. These organizations help Illinois renters for free.