OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — A Northwest OKC man says he had to brave Tuesday’s near triple digit temperatures without his air conditioning unit working properly.
“Waking up sweating, just covered in sweat,” said Nicholas Mendus. “I can't do that.”
Nicholas Mendus moved into his apartment at the Mayfair Gardens Apartments in Northwest Oklahoma City a few months ago. He says problems with his air conditioning unit started right away.
"I have an IR thermometer and I'll point at the ceiling and the ceiling will be 100 degrees to the touch sometimes,” said Mendus.
Mendus says an air conditioning company found the A coil is clogged and needs to be cleaned. He adds the complex has known about the issue for more than two weeks.
"They're just not fixing it,” said Mendus. “She keeps telling me 'I'm waiting on my manager.'”
Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma says these types of problems are unfortunately common throughout the state in the summertime.
"In the last week, I've probably seen five or six different cases that had something directly to do with air conditioning,” said Andrew Case, a staff attorney for Legal Aid Services Oklahoma. “The temperatures like we're seeing recently can create major, major health risks."
Case recommends anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation as Mendus notify their landlords in writing and give them 14 days to make the repair.
"That really needs to be a printed letter that is handed to the landlord or mailed to them,” said Case.
If that doesn’t work, according to Case, the law says you can vacate the property after 30 days from the time you gave the notice.
Case also highly cautions against not paying your rent.
"It's too risky,” said Case. “If you've not given proper notice to the landlord, you're going to be evicted."
In the meantime, Mendus purchased portable A/C units to cool off his apartment.
KFOR left multiple messages for the Mayfair Gardens Apartment Complex. We also tried knocking on the office door twice, but we weren’t able to get a hold of anyone to see what the hold up is.
