Don't go apartment hunting in Chicago without buying one of these:

Renters' Rights - By Janet Portman, Marcia Stewart. "If you expect 'Renters' Rights' to be dull, boring and irrelevant to your rental situation, think again. This lively, practical and occasionally humorous new book relates to everyday residential rental situations in all states."

Every Tenant's Legal Guide, 2nd Ed - by Janet Portman, Marcia Stewart, Mary Randolph and Ralph Warner. Gives tenants in all 50 states the legal and practical information they need to deal with landlords and protect their rights when things go wrong. It walks readers through each step of renting, from finding an apartment, to giving notice, to getting your deposit back.

Landlords' Rights and Duties in Illinois - By Diana Brodman Summers and Mark Ward. It clearly and comprehensively covers everything you need to know.

Chicago Apartment Hunting

Local Apartment and Roommate Hunting Links

Large Local Sites
- ApartmentZone.com ("... the coolest place to look for apartments" - a full service site that specializes in local apartments)
- ChicagoApartmentsandCondos (just what it says)
- Chicago Reader Spacefinder (apartment classifieds from the Reader)

Large National Sites
- Apartments.com (the Illinois area of a large national apartment hunting site)
- ChicagoApartments.net (the local area of a large site)

Small Local Sites
- KeyManagement.com (a small site that specializes in the North)
- barryrealty.com (specializes in the North side and the Northern suburbs.
- AptsForRent.com (Chicago and North, Northwest and Far North Suburbs)
- ChicagoApts.com (specializes in the Belmont Harbor area)
- North Shore Apartments & Condos (specializes in the North Shore)
- HalApts.com (specializes in the Gold Coast and Near North Side)
- BannerApts.com (small local site)
- RelconApartments.com (free off-line apartment hunting consulting for over 30 years)
- Habitat.com (apartments)
- Chi-TownApartments.com

Roommates and Sublets
- TheSubLet (short term leasing - national site with Illinois listings)
- SimplyRoommates.com (a Chicago site that helps find you a local roommate)
- Reader House Share (roommate Classifieds from the Reader)
- RoomMateAccess.com (find a roommate - local area of a national site)

Miscellaneous
- AboutChicagoRealEstate (About.com's local real estate area)
- MakeTheMove.com (transfer, cancel, or setup phone, cable, electric, gas, newspaper, magazines, mail, on the web!)