[IL] Landlord threatening to evict after I kicked out a technician that didnt show up, then walked in the next day while I was naked in bed.
Disclaimer: I wrote this myself, but ran it though AI to help organize my thoughts and the story.
I am a tenant who was on a yearly lease, but is now a month-to-month lease. My apartment has a history of AC issues that the landlord only temporarily patches every year.
• August 4: I messaged the landlord that the AC was leaking water inside the tray. Half an inch of standing water. I provided a description and photos. No response for three days.
• August 7: I sent a follow-up with a picture of sludge buildup. The landlord replied, "I will call the AC guy."
• August 17: Ten days passed with no contact or repairs. I reached out again. The landlord responded, "He should've been there already. I'll call him again."
My Response: I thanked him but explicitly stated I needed advance notice. I noted that this was at least the third time maintenance had entered my home without my knowledge. I requested maintenance coordinate with me directly to schedule a time and provided my phone number.
Landlord's Response: He told me the tech would be there "in the morning" and asked why the filter was missing (evidence maintenance had been there without telling us, walking in without us there.) I explained I removed it a week prior (long after the issues started) to try and increase airflow because the indoor temperature was reaching 82°F.
• August 19 (Yesterday): By 10:00 AM, the tech had not arrived. I texted the landlord stating I had a virtual job interview at 11:30 AM and could not let him in after 11:00 AM, suggesting we reschedule if he couldn't make it. The tech never showed up that day.
• August 20 (Today): At approximately 8:45 AM, while I was naked in bed, I heard rummaging inside my hallway. I yelled out, and it turned out to be the AC tech. He had used a key to walk straight into my apartment.
•
I got into an argument with the tech and kicked him out. He claimed he knocked for 15 minutes, which cannot be true. My apartment is small, I can hear people knocking on my neighbors' doors from where I was, and my cat did not alert as she does when someone knocks. She panics with visitors. I would have heard either her or the knocking. He was scheduled for yesterday morning, did not show, and then walked into my apartment today with zero notice of knocking.
I immediately texted the landlord to report the unannounced entry, stating that entering without calling/texting or knocking is highly dangerous.
The landlord replied with the following text:
"He said he can be there at 10 tomorrow. He would prefer if you are not there. His schedule is not always exact depending on how long the previous call takes. He has never warned you or texted you before. He said he knocked on the door for a long time and nobody answered that’s why he walked in. You were on a month-to-month lease. I can give you 30 days or you can give me 30 days. I don’t think you’ll ever be happy there."
Landlord admitted here that maintenance workers have repeatedly entered the home without communication in the past. My previous texts with him and my partner support that as well. This is the fourth time a maintenance worker has entered my home without my knowledge/appointment, and the second time they have entered without knocking while I was home.
(The landlord's comment about me "never being happy" refers to a previous long-standing issue with a neighboring group home that involved fourteen police calls over three years for trespassing, loitering, littering, verbal threats, loud music, and drug deals on their property and the property I live at, which the landlord refused to assist with any virtually any capacity. That property is now closed and is no longer an issue).
Now, because I kicked the technician out and complained about the repeated no notice entries, the landlord is threatening to terminate my month-to-month lease with a 30-day notice.
From local city ordinances,"Except in cases of emergency or by mutual consent, the landlord or landlord's agents shall not enter the rental unit without first providing the tenant with at least twenty-four (48) hours advance notice of the entry and may enter only at reasonable times. Reasonable times shall be considered 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on weekdays and 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on weekends, or such other times agreed upon by the tenant and the landlord."
*I did not *agree* to the time of the appointment, as much as I was *told* it was happening*
The landlord explicitly said, "He said he will be there in the morning.." as such, this shouldn't meet the exception for 'such times agreed upon *by tenant* and the landlord.'
When the tech did show, he showed at 8:45am, outside of the reasonable window set by local ordinances.
My Questions:
• Under Illinois ordinances, does a landlord or technician have the right to enter a unit using a key if they missed the appointment, did not give notice of the next visit, and entered without permission because they claim they "knocked for a long time" for a non-emergency repair?
• Does the landlord's explicit threat to issue a 30-day notice immediately following my complaint about an illegal entry constitute illegal landlord retaliation under Illinois law?