PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Wednesday marks two months since hundreds of tenants at a Phoenix apartment complex have been without working air conditioning during the record-breaking heat.
The series of reports we’ve aired led the state’s top prosecutor to sue the landlord.
Now, a judge is ordering the owners to fix the air conditioning by Friday or pay for all of the renters to stay somewhere else.
Some people who live there have been telling Arizona’s Family that they went to the emergency room due to heat exhaustion and dehydration.
Others say they take the bus to a cooling center every day to escape the heat in their home at least for a few hours.
“No relief, it’s just tension, anger,” said Sally Rivera.
Rivera can’t take it anymore.
“We just want air,” she said.
After our reporting on this in July, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes stepped in and demanded the Buenas on 32nd fix the broken chiller.
The owners eventually installed a rental unit, but that didn’t cut it and management told us they may not have a permanent solution until December.
“This is a life or death issue,” said Mayes.
Mayes is now suing Buenas Communities for allegedly breaking multiple laws.
“When we went out and did the investigation after your story ran, it was clear that this goes far beyond air conditioning. I mean this is a slum lord,” said Mayes.
The attorney general’s investigation uncovered a slew of other problems and more than 100 code violations from the city of Phoenix since 2016.
Mayes says there’s evidence residents who complained have faced threats and retaliation.
“It’s totally, totally unacceptable,” said Mayes. “Bed bugs were present, boarded up windows, the plumbing was inadequate.”
“They don’t care,” said Rivera. “One day come and live in one of your own units for one day and you’ll see what happens here all the time.”
Rivera has lived there for five years and says the air conditioning goes out every summer.
In the last eight years, the city has given out 18 violations related to inadequate cooling at this complex and the current situation led to 39 citations and a court case, separate from the AG’s legal action.
“That’s what struck me. I think the most about your reporting was to hear people say this happens every summer. I mean come on, that’s terrible,” said Mayes.
The attorney general’s lawsuit seeks to bar this landlord from renting to anyone in Arizona ever again.
“It’s kind of the business death penalty. I mean, you know, basically we’re saying these guys if you don’t fix it here then you don’t deserve to do business in the state of Arizona,” said Mayes.
This week, a judge sided with Mayes and handed out a temporary restraining order, requiring the owners to get the air conditioning back up and running by this Friday.
If that doesn’t happen, the judge says they must provide alternative accommodations for all tenants. Rivera is hopeful the landlord will meet the deadline.
“I pray to God on it,” said Rivera.
We reached out to management and the attorney representing them and have not heard back.
An evidentiary hearing is set for this Friday afternoon and it will continue on Saturday if necessary.
We’ll be in court and continue to bring you any updates on how this case all plays out.
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
Copyright 2024 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.
link