Residents of Park Forest, Illinois, apartment complex say they have no air conditioning, and not for first time

Residents of a troubled apartment complex in Chicago's south suburbs said they have been suffering with no air conditioning in the midst of a dangerous heat wave.

It was 92 degrees outside in Park Forest, Illinois, as of late Wednesday afternoon. In one person's apartment, it was only four degrees cooler than that.

Nicole Scott-Johnson let CBS News Chicago into her fourth-floor apartment, where she has lived for the past five years. A temperature reader recorded 88 degrees inside her sweltering unit.

"'It's very hot in here. So we're just waiting on them to actually fix the unit to get us some air," said Scott-Johnson.

The Village of Park Forest says Autumn Ridge is under receivership. There are 348 townhomes and apartments in the complex.

On Wednesday, CBS News Chicago's cameras captured HVAC contractors on site. The village said the contractors were installing temporary chillers to provide relief for residents without A/C.

People we spoke with living in both the townhomes and apartments in the complex said they all had no A/C.

Robert Boyd spent $200 on his own A/C unit. He said he finds the idea of going to the management office to talk about the A/C outage pointless.

"I don't talk to them," he said. "I feel it's a waste of my time."

This is not the first time CBS News Chicago has reported on the Autumn Ridge apartment complex for exactly this same issue. 

In June of last year, residents of the complex were also without air conditioning, and said they had been complaining to management for months. In January of this year, tenants at Autumn Ridge said they had no heat.

In January, one of the buildings in the complex was also condemned. People living in the complex have complained of mold and bug infestations.  

Scott-Johnson said those problems continue, along with other issues — such as vacant units, like the one right next to hers, being left open.

"Unsafe. Unsafe. It's very unsafe," she said, "especially since I come home late at night."

On the first floor of her building, Scott-Johnson said there has been a leak for about a year, leaving the first floor with a constant trickle of water.

One resident who moved out on June 22 agreed to speak with CBS News Chicago only if she were not identified and her face were not shown.

She said she moved because of "excessive heat, no air, no heat, no garbage pickup, no laundry room, no intercom working, doors are open on all sides, vacant apartments with partially open doors, one elevator working. It's just a whole list of things."

The court-ordered receiver for Autumn Ridge said in part that they inherited major issues with the property, and are working to address them as financial resources allow. The receiver is also offering hotel rooms to residents.

The complete statement from the receiver, Frontline Real Estate Partners, is as follows:

"We have been working to address the HVAC issues since we were appointed receiver. Please note as Receiver we are subject to the authority given to us by the law and the court and we don't have unlimited discretion. We inherited major issues across the entire portfolio of properties which the owner caused, and we are here to help provide solutions. We are working to correct all the issues as financial resources allow.

"Additionally, we currently have vendors on site at the property, including an HVAC vendor who has 3 teams currently working on chiller repairs at the property. Efforts are also being made to bring in temporary cooling systems while repairs are ongoing.  

"Our team is regularly checking in with tenants who may need temporary housing assistance to offer them the ability to stay at a hotel. We have also provided cases of water and offered our leasing office as a temporary cooling station.

"We have a large team dedicated to addressing all issues at the property and all residents are encouraged to reach out to us for assistance."

Meantime, the Village of Park Forest said the community center, village hall, and police department are all open as cooling centers.