Air conditioner not working? What to do when landlords won't take action
GARLAND (CBSNewsTexas.com) - "It's just been intolerably hot," says Becky Hendricks.
Hendricks lives in the Peachtree Square Apartments in Garland. She says her unit hasn't had working air conditioning since June 9.
"I was told by management that they ordered the part that is needed to repair the air conditioner and that it's on backorder," said Hendricks.
Management told her it could take up to two weeks to get the part and offered her a fan. She even had to purchase her own window A/C and has two fans going in her living room. But it's no match for this heat.
"I'm 74 years old, I'm a senior. It's hard to be able to tolerate these kinds of temperatures," said Hendricks.
The thermostat on Hendricks' wall showed that the temperature inside was 86 degrees.
CBS News Texas' Olivia Leach spoke with the property manager at Peachtree Square Apartments who says they can't comment on Hendricks' case but said parts for the HVAC repairs are on back order.
"If there's subpar conditions that pose a threat to the health or safety of an ordinary person, and it could be anything, they do have a right to repair under the state code that obviously means AC in the summer," said Dewey Marshall, Texas Tenants Union's executive director.
According to the Texas Tenants Union, there are very few tenant protections when it comes to air conditioning repair but there are some things you can do to get your landlord to take action.
That includes:
Submit an initial repair request
Write a letter requesting the repair and send it by certified mail to your landlord
Contact your city inspector
"To trigger their rights on the state level, they do have to have a paper copy of a request for repair remedy and then go to the post office and send that," said Marshall.
The Texas Tenants Union says they want to see more protections for tenants in Texas especially when it comes to A/C in summer months. Marshall says if you have a similar concern with your A/C or another repair in your apartment you can contact their hotline for assistance at (214) 823-2733.
"There's really not anything that in these kind of temperatures, besides central A/C, that's gonna provide adequate cooling," said Hendricks.
