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Heat issue plagues Heritage Place apartments

STEUBENVILLE — A boiler issue that’s left dozens of residents at Heritage Place apartments without piped-in heat during the past six weeks is still not fixed, forcing affected tenants to rely on one-room space heaters to keep warm.

City Manager Jim Mavromatis said he was told by the property manager and maintenance supervisor that heat is out in a total of 64 units due to boiler failure. He said they told him they’d ordered a replacement pump and, in the meantime, residents have been offered space heaters and those who requested them have been given one.

But Jefferson County Common Pleas Judge Joseph Bruzzese issued an order Friday requiring the owner of the affordable housing complex, Green National, to re-house affected residents — either by temporarily putting them in fully furnished apartments in Steubenville or securing accommodations at hotels in Steubenville and Weirton–at the owner’s expense until repairs are made. If residents are moved to hotels, Bruzzese also said Green National would be responsible for food costs.

Bruzzese’s order, however, was sent by regular mail to the named defendants — Green National, WG Heritage Place Ohio and the property management company, Abel-Bishop & Clark Realty of Beechwood (also known as ABC Management.) Due to the Martin Luther King holiday, there was no mail service on Monday.

As of Monday afternoon, Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio Attorney Pam Bolton said residents hadn’t been moved.

Bolton, who filed suit last week against Green National, WG Heritage Place and ABC Management, said it’s not acceptable to her or the residents who have been lugging heaters from one room to another for the past month.

“I’m not satisfied by any means,” Bolton said. “It’s dangerous. It doesn’t effectively maintain heat in the apartments and puts folks at additional risks. When I talked with residents early this morning, they were very unhappy that we went to court on Thursday, but nothing has changed.”

Bruzzese issued the order after Bolton filed suit on behalf of four tenants, all of whom said they’d been without heat since the beginning of December, but by Sunday Bolton said she’d been in contact with 12 heads of household impacted by the boiler’s failure.

“The only justice is putting folks up in furnished apartments or hotels until heat is fully restored,” she said. “The apartment owner has that obligation under Ohio law and the tenants’ leases, and now a court is saying the same thing.”

When he visited Heritage Place Monday, Mavromatis said he was unaware of the court order. After learning of it and the lawsuit, he said the city is not a part of that litigation and he cannot comment on it.

“It’s not our litigation,” he said. “But I have stopped down there personally and told them if there’s anything the city can do, to let us know.”

The suit alleges Green Nation, W.G. Heritage Place Apartments OH and ABC Management failed to meet statutory requirements meant to ensure rental properties are habitable and safe for tenants. It claims they breached their duty to maintain the property and their contracts with tenants.

“Many of the tenants at Heritage Place are disabled, elderly, or have children and they should not be subjected to these extremely low temperatures without heat in their home,” the complaint stated.

A hearing has been set for Thursday on Bolton’s motion for a preliminary injunction.

The Herald-Star attempted to reach defendants by phone Friday afternoon and again Monday by e-mail, without success.

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