How to deal with an unresponsive property manager?

Question

I am a tenant and the apartment I am currently renting is managed by an extremely unprofessional and unresponsive property manager who has given us a very hard time at every step since we've signed our lease agreement. She was very responsive before up until we signed the lease and then mostly have been unreachable after that.

Right now the HVAC is not functioning properly and we're not getting any heat. I've been trying to get her attention for the past 11 days. She sent a repair company that couldn't do the job as it's a bigger issue but after that she's keeps telling us that she has to wait for owners approval. I asked the repair company and they told me they gave her all the needed info and even gave her contractor details that can fix the HVAC issue. In my experience dealing with her, she's most likely not even reaching out to the owner. I don't want to assume but that has happened before. When we moved into our building she didn't help us at all with move-in procedures and kept telling us the building mgmt is not responding to her, but in reality the building mgmt never got any calls from her when we inquired after moving in.

Our apt is very cold (65 degrees F as of now) and my 2 yr old son is already sick. Am I within my rights to contact the owner directly to get this fixed? Based on my research HVAC issues are considered urgent but I wanted to confirm if I can bypass the property manager and call the owner directly to get his approval?

In the past she has been rude to us when we've asked for any help and gets really upset if we follow up with her even though the contract says that we need to reach out to her in case of issues. But this is an emergency and we can't go much longer without heat.

Any suggestions?

P.S. I ALWAYS PAY RENT ON TIME AND HAVEN'T MISSED A SINGLE PAYMENT.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Here's a quote and link to a government website that explains Tenant rights in Illinois Illinois Landlord - Tenant Laws

If something in your apartment needs to be fixed, send your landlord a formal letter with a list of the repairs needed and request that they be made within 14 days. If it is an emergency and can threaten your health, safety or the apartment itself, ask that the repair be made within 72 hours. If your landlord does not fix the problem, under certain circumstances, the Residential Tenants’ Right to Repair Act allows you to hire a professional to make the repairs and then deduct the cost from next month’s rent. Whenever taking an action that may be against the terms of your lease, talk to a lawyer or a tenant’s rights organization.

Paul De Luca · Answer

@Sagar Joshi

Check your lease. Most leases lay out the landlord's responsibility to provide basic services such as heating & cooling and that they have to fix them in a specified amount of time if it is not working. You may have the ability to get the HVAC fixed yourself and then bill the landlord back. Maybe you could even break the lease.

If you have the owner's information I think you should definitely contact them at this point. Perhaps this will be a wake up call to the landlord to show them the property manager is not doing their job.

A longer term solution to a bad property manager would be to move.

Chris Seveney · Answer

@Sagar Joshi

If your living conditions make the premises uninhabitable then call your local building authority and report it to them. Ask them to come inspect. That will get their attention.

Sagar Joshi · Answer

Thank you @Paul De Luca and @Tom Fidrych for your responses. I'll double-check the lease again and try to call the owner by this evening. I do have space heaters which is the only reason I've been able to withstand the cold so far, but it's definitely adding to my electric bill.

Tom Fidrych · Answer

As a short term solution, you could get a few electric space heaters to warm the place up.

Unfortunately, with the ongoing worker shortage, many businesses are backed up much longer than the historic average. Adding to this is the surge in demand that HVAC companies often encounter when the temperatures start cooling down. It's possible that the PM has submitted a work order and is in cue for the repair. Nevertheless, they should have communicated this to you. You could call a few HVAC companies to get a feel for their time frames.

Sagar Joshi · Answer

Thank you @Nathan G. and @Chris Seveney for your responses. Appreciate the info!

How to deal with an unresponsive property manager?

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