LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – Tenants at a Middletown apartment complex have been without gas, hot water and heat for six weeks after a gas leak in the building went unrepaired.
Woodside Village Apartments is a subsidized housing complex that accepts Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers.
In September, residents of one of the buildings said a gas leak had been discovered, prompting LG&E to shut off gas to the building. Weeks later, the leak still hasn’t been repaired and residents say they haven’t received an update on its progress from property management company RPM Living.
WAVE interviewed tenants who asked not to be identified.
“It’s terrible, I just can’t explain it. I mean, I have a little heater when it gets cold, but that’s not enough,” said a mother who lives in the building with her daughters.
She said they microwaved water for cooking and showering at friends’ homes.
Janeisha Payne worked as a receptionist at the complex through a separate agency.
“The intention was not to give these people a stipend, but to give them gift cards for food, to give them space heaters, none of that,” Payne said. “It’s been another day and they don’t have gas, like it’s normal.”
Payne says that after the tenants had lived without gas and heat for five weeks, RPM Living sent a letter offering them to move into a vacant unit. She also says tenants have been given the option to stay in a hotel.
Payne says that after the tenants had lived without gas and heat for five weeks, RPM Living sent a letter offering them to move into a vacant unit. She also says that tenants have been given the option to stay in a hotel.(GOLF)
However, residents say the company offered no relocation assistance.
“They told us we had to take our beds to the vacant unit and then move them back to our unit when we were done, which didn’t make sense, so I declined,” one resident said.
Another resident said that after her calls and emails to the property manager and maintenance staff went unanswered, she is now looking into terminating her lease.
She sent the property manager a letter citing a Kentucky law which allows rental agreements to be terminated within 30 days for non-compliance by the landlord, unless the breach is remedied within 14 days.
“You can’t take a hot shower, you can’t cook, you can’t prepare hot meals, none of that,” the resident said. “They offered no stove or stove, nothing to keep you warm, nothing to help you cook.”
Residents say property management raised rents in September, shortly before the gas leak was discovered, and they are still expected to pay the full amount while their gas and heat are turned off.
WAVE contacted RPM Living headquarters for comment and did not immediately receive a response.
“At the end of the day, you wouldn’t live like this, you wouldn’t want your children, grandchildren or anyone else to live like that,” Payne said. “So don’t do them this way just because they’re income-based.”
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