About 10 years ago, a large Manhattan real estate firm bought an apartment building that contained a few rent-controlled units. Deregulated, those units would be worth perhaps five to seven times more on the open market — if the developer could nudge the remaining tenants down the road, that is. One of them, a senile older woman who had been living there for decades, refused to leave.

Landlords also may try to whack you extra for taking on a roommate or an extended house guest — even though federal housing statutes prohibit landlords from raising rents on tenants who do so. There are limits, of course, so you can’t pile in your whole extended family. What’s typical is two individuals per bedroom, plus one. So, up to three people (including children) can reside in your one-bedroom apartment before the landlord can jack up the rent or issue an eviction notice. If your landlord really gives you the creeps, consider buying renter’s insurance. The cost is minimal (maybe $10 to $30 a month) compared with what you might lose in repair costs and lawyers’ fees. (Read more about renter’s insurance, here.) Really fed up with your landlord? Extract your own pound of flesh by knowing the law. Example: Tenants in Chicago can collect twice the amount of their security deposits if they can prove that landlords stick rent checks and security deposits in the same bank account, says attorney Aaron Krolik. (Most banks can help you track down this information.) If that doesn’t work, Chicago renters can double their pleasure if their landlords blank on paying the stipulated interest on security deposits, currently 1.7% a year.

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