×

Lack of heat leads to court order

STEUBENVILLE — In the midst of a cold wave expected to bring double-digit wind chills to the Ohio Valley, at least 12 Heritage Place residents — and possibly more — are relying on small space heaters and ovens to heat their apartments, located in the 800 block of Market Street in downtown Steubenville, the lawyer representing their interests in a Jefferson County lawsuit said Sunday.

Pam Bolton, Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio, asked for and received a court order Thursday in Common Pleas Court requiring owner Green National and its property management company, Abel-Bishop and Clark Realty of Beechwood, to make the necessary repairs or replace the boilers immediately at the complex, which serves low-income residents, and in the interim, to rehouse affected residents in fully furnished apartments or hotels nearby. They’ll also have to pick up the tab for meals for any Heritage Place tenants placed in hotels.

That order, issued by Judge Joseph Bruzzese Friday, found that the named plaintiffs –Stephanie Williams, Wendy Mottle, Brenda Smith and Ronald Mitchell — “are at risk of immediate and irreparable injury through the lack of heating in their apartments at Heritage Place,” which serves low-income residents. Until the problems are fixed, Bruzzese directed residents impacted by the boiler issues to deposit their rent checks with the court.

As of Sunday, Bolton said no residents have been rehoused and the boilers are still inoperable.

None of the entities or individuals named as defendants were at Friday’s hearing, Bruzzese noted. But, as of Sunday evening, there was no notation in the court file that the defendants had been served with the initial complaint, which was sent by certified mail, or the judge’s order, sent by mail.

Efforts by the Herald-Star to reach Heritage Place’s statutory agent and management company Friday afternoon for comment were not successful.

Green Nation has come under fire in recent years for conditions at buildings it owns in Canton as well as Syracuse, N.Y., where the company ended up selling its holdings after New York’s attorney general secured a court order banning owner Troy Green from owning, operating or managing affordable housing properties anywhere in that state.

Syracuse.com reported that in September 2023 Green Nation sold the last of its low-income housing there, while the Canton Repository reported federal housing officials in July moved tenants of Green Nation-owned Victory Square Apartments to hotels and other housing options due to alleged health and safety violations there.

Bolton said tenants told her boilers in two Heritage Place buildings have been out since “sometime between Thanksgiving and the first week of December.” She said 12 heads-of-household have been in contact with her to date but figures as many as 72 could ultimately be impacted.

Affected residents have been without heat for more than 40 days, she said.

The suit alleges Green Nation and its W.G. Heritage Place Apartments OH, as well as 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.

In the lawsuit, Bolton states residents had been “forced to use alternative heating sources to stay warm, including the use of space heaters and even their ovens.”

“These alternative heat sources are insufficient, cause increased utility expenses, and are outright dangerous to plaintiffs and other Heritage Place residents,” it said.

It also complains affected residents “made multiple attempts” to get the on-site property manager and maintenance person to repair or replace the boilers, to no avail. It said residents were told it would be repaired but subsequently learned Heritage Place elected to order the replacement parts itself only to find out they’d ordered the wrong parts and their contractor could not install them or locate the correct part.

The complaint suggested building managers said they’d offered tenants small electric space heaters as a temporary fix “on or about” Dec. 16, but three of the tenants named in the suit said they weren’t given heaters until Jan. 6 or later.

“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. “There still has not been an update given to the tenants regarding the repairs to the heating system.”

Bolton said the situation is dangerous, particularly with sub-zero temperatures projected for the next several nights.

“Until now, people have been relying on space heaters and ovens to heat their apartments,” she said. “Both of those are dangerous. The space heaters may heat a room to the 50s or 60s, but the only warm a single room, so clients say they move them from room to room, depending where they are.”

She said the alleged lack of heat is “putting people at serious risk of health issues, if not death, because of the bitter cold.”

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $2.99/week.

Subscribe Today