Metro Apartment Residents Struggle With Nonfunctional AC Amid High Temps

Tenants at Lakewood Estates apartments in northwest Oklahoma City face unbearable heat as their air conditioning units remain unfixed for months, leaving families, including those with young children, in distress.

Monday, July 15th 2024, 9:11 pm

By: News 9, Cameron Joiner

As temperatures soar, residents at a metro apartment complex aren't getting much relief from the heat.

Tenants told News 9's Cameron Joiner their AC units haven't worked for months, she spoke with a legal analyst to find out what their options are.

On a day that's supposed to reach 100 degrees, a metro mother is fearing for her children as she says maintenance requests at her apartment complex continue to go unresolved.

When the Oklahoma heat kicks in, staying indoors should keep you cool.

But at Lakewood Estates apartments the breeze outside probably feels a bit better.

Alexandria Lopez lives at the northwest Oklahoma City complex with her fiance and their two children.

“When we first moved in, the air conditioner wasn’t working and it was hot for like a month or so before they came and fixed it,” Lopez said.

She says it's been a battle ever since. “They’ve sent in three different maintenance men and they’re all like oh it’s fixed but it’s still insanely hot,” Lopez added.

Even when the AC unit is running it's too hot for her eight-month-old daughter. “yeah, I give her baths twice a day just to try to keep her core temperature down,” Lopez said. "It's set on 65 but see it's still 78 in here."

News 9 reached out to Lakewood Estates for comment but didn't hear back.

“Our landlord-tenant laws in Oklahoma are really more prone to favoring the landlord," News 9 legal analyst Irven Box said. “Tenants, keep in mind, write everything down.”

He says residents can give written notice to a landlord who fails to fulfill maintenance requests and fix the issue themselves.

"Now the landlord unfortunately has 14 days. Well, that doesn’t do any good if it’s 103 or 105 for the next couple of days,” Box said.

If an agreement can't be reached, tenants can sue in small claims court.

“We talked about moving so many times I’m like I’m just so over it but money and then having two kids it’s really difficult,” Lopez said.

Solutions take time. The time that families like Lopez's don't have.

Lopez says her family plans to move out as soon as they're financially able.