‘It’s too cold in here:’ heat out for weeks at Dayton apartment, woman says

DAYTON — “I’m looking for help. We need help because it’s too cold in here,” Stacey Williams of Dayton said of her apartment.

She said she and her fiance have been without heat in their apartment for more than a month. She even said their landlord slapped them with an eviction notice because they reported the problem.

News Center 7’s John Bedell is looking into what’s being done to get the heat fixed, and spoke to the building’s owner.

“It’s too cold in here,” Williams said. “It’s just cold and it’s unacceptable,” she said about the inside of her apartment where she said she and her fiance, James Clark, said they have been without heat since they moved in on Nov. 5.

The couple said their landlord has given them a couple space heaters. But they said those just aren’t cutting it in a two-bedroom apartment.

The couple showed Bedell their eviction notice, and said they believe they received it as retaliation from their landlord, BWB Properties, for reporting the heating issue to the city of Dayton.

When Bedell called BWB Properties, a man who identified himself as Eli answered. He said the building’s boiler started having issues Nov. 15 and finally gave out days after Thanksgiving.

He said they are under a 72-hour deadline from the city of Dayton’s housing department to fix the heat. The deadline is up on Friday. He said they will be getting the boiler replaced Thursday or Friday, and that they already hired someone for the job.

When asked about the eviction notice, he said, “there’s no retaliation” and that they go out automatically when tenants don’t pay their rent.

Williams and Clark said they put December’s rent in escrow, until the heat is fixed.

The property owner said if they show him proof of that, there “won’t be any issue.” Right now, he’s focused on getting the heat fixed.

Williams and Clark agree that’s what they want, to be able to stay in their warm apartment.