HAMPTON, Va. — As temperatures crept past 90 degrees Tuesday afternoon, some people at a Hampton apartment complex said they couldn't catch a break inside their own homes.
Renata Battle, who lives at Cambridge Apartments in Hampton, told 13News Now that the central air conditioning unit at her home broke months ago.
“Hell. It was hell. It was hell – that’s all I can say," Battle said. “It’s 85 degrees in my house! It’s 85 degrees.”
Monday marked the hottest day of the year so far in Hampton Roads and temperatures this week feel like the triple digits.
Battle she’s contacted apartment management several times, but there’s still no permanent fix.
“They came out, replaced the compressor, did the Freon; It works for a day, it goes out," Battle explained to 13News Now. “Every time I call, ‘Maintenance is in a meeting. Call us back in 30 minutes.’ You don’t hear anything back from them. But you can call me or e-mail me to make sure I pay my rent on time.”
And she’s not the only one. Her neighbor, Oksana Nix, said she and her 10-month-old son also do not have a working central air system.
“It was extremely hot," Nix said. "It was 86 degrees in the house. It was stuffy, we were sweating. It was just absolutely horrible. When I went to the leasing office to ask them what the ETA was, they told me: It wasn’t a priority status because they’ve had units down since March.”
Nix said her unit broke a few days ago and it wasn’t until she made a public Facebook post about the situation that staff at the apartment complex brought her a temporary window unit. She said she’s heard several other neighbors are having the same issue.
“At least from maintenance, they’ve told me they have at 12 units down and they have no ETA on when it will be fixed," Nix said. “It’s frustrating because we’ve been really good tenants, we pay out rent on time and we expect things to be in working order for us to live here.”
Battle said something similar: “When I talked to the assistant manager, he told me it’s at least 50 units that need AC work.”
Nix said she is worried that her 10-month-old son could overheat in this weather without a working air conditioning unit.
Both Battle and Nix said they reported the problem to Hampton's codes compliance department and workers there are looking into the problem.
13News Now reached out to Cambridge Apartments but didn't hear back by the time this story was published.
We reached out to Battle on Monday to see where things stand. She says that after our story aired, apartment maintenance brought her a temporary window unit.
She reported the issue to Hampton Codes Compliance whose officials gave apartment management until this Thursday to fix the AC permanently.