DENVER (KDVR) — It has been nearly a week since tenants in a Denver apartment complex lost heat and hot water, and a few days since the weather turned cold and snowy.
Thursday, Oct. 31, was when residents at Avon North Apartments said it all started.
“We came home from a trip from Kansas to find out we had no hot water,” Taylor Parker said. “We came home to a freezing cold apartment.”
They said they have had to get creative to get by.
“We boil water. Not boil but warm it up and just get in the shower and do what we got to do and then, you know, freeze the rest of the time while we’re getting ready and then go to work,” said Joann Hackworth.
Dustin Lemons said he has been using his oven to warm the apartment.
“I let it heat up, I flip it open, I let it sit there for 20 minutes,” he said.
They admit it is not ideal, but it is better than the alternative.
“Just sleeping it’s freezing cold at night,” Parker said. “In the morning it’s been really cold.”
Residents said management gave them space heaters to help with the cold. They gave two to folks with two-bedroom units and one to residents with one-bedroom units. But, residents have a problem with those.
“I have one of the space heaters in the living room set on the lowest setting because if I set it on the highest setting, it trips the whole breakers,” Lemmons said. “I cannot turn on the TV, I can’t hit the microwave, I can’t hit a hair dryer if I wanted to dry my cold head if I decided to stick it under the cold water.”
Bruno Tapia, tenant organizer for Denver Aurora Tenants United, said this is why it’s important to know what rights you have as a tenant.
“A landlord is required by law to provide safe and sanitary conditions to all tenants. Really, any condition that is a threat to a tenant’s health, life or safety,” Tapia said.
Tapia said some things residents can do if they are ever faced with a situation where a landlord is not acting, or acting right away, in a situation where there is a loss of heat, hot water, problems with electricity, security, or anything else, is to talk with other residents.
“They can talk to each other and they can organize. They can actually come together and basically negotiate with their landlord and make this happen,” Tapia said.
Ryan Leets, senior director for BDP Impact Real Estate, wrote in an email to FOX31 that management is working to resolve the issue as soon as possible for the tenants at Avon North. Leets said two of the three boilers at the apartments went out unexpectedly as “both boilers were well within their useful life and warranty period.”
“The health, safety, and wellbeing of our residents is our top priority, and we have put every available resource behind replacing the boilers as quickly as possible,” Leets wrote.
Repair and replacement of the boilers is scheduled for Thursday morning, a full week after they initially went out. Leets said this was the soonest they could acquire new equipment and have it installed by a certified technician.
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