Chicago tenant issue

[Matthew Scott]

I am asking this question for a friend of mine in Chicago. 

She has a tenant that stopped paying rent about 9 months ago. When confronted he just suggested she go through the eviction process, presumably because he knows that it will be hard for her to do because of the pandemic. Do you guys have any suggestions with this?

The more pressing issue she is facing is that there is a leak that needs to be addressed inside that person's apartment. Something in his bathroom is leaking and she only found out about it once water started filling up a light fixture in an apartment below his. She has called and sent him messages multiple times. She had a contractor show up to his place yesterday and although the could hear him inside, he would not open the door.

How can she handle this situation so that she can allow a plumber inside to fix the leak issue?

Thank you for any suggestions. 

[Mark Ainley]

@Matthew Scott In Chicago you just need 48 hour notice so I would post the notice to access the unit and go in 48 hours later to address this leak.  On the rental side I would offer the tenant $2000 to leave by end of the month, which we call cash for keys.  If our friend has a talking relationship(not sure it sounds like that) then there is some new IDHA grants coming out that maybe the tenant can take advantage of.