PEORIA – City Hall can do little about recent reports of residents at a North Peoria apartment complex going without air conditioning.
Residents of The Grove Apartments, located off Candletree Drive near Pioneer Parkway, went to local media this month about not having air conditioning during what was the hottest week of the year.
They claim officials at The Grove told them it might be weeks before it could be fixed. The Journal Star called the management office of the complex to speak to someone, but calls were not returned.
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A/C isn’t a part of building code
Joe Dulin, the head of the city’s community development department, said it’s not against the city’s building codes not to have air conditioning. Peoria uses a standardized code that is also used by other communities nationwide.
“The code does not consider it a life-safety issue, unlike adequate heat, which the code does consider a life-safety issue,” he said. What is required, however, is that windows must be able to open, and there has to be adequate ventilation within the unit, Dulin said.
That said, the city added a new count to the ongoing case that is proceeding in the city’s Housing Court to include the fact that the equipment — the A/C units — is not working in an existing case involving the owners of The Grove.
The existing case has been ongoing for other issues including exterior property maintenance violations, issues with the dumpster enclosures, potholes in the parking lots and various other interior violations in individual units.
“It may not be a quick fix, however,” Dulin said. The company isn’t due back in housing court for a few weeks, and then it would have a chance to respond. Dulin hopes the company will fix the issue before then and be a responsible property owner who provides an amenity that existed when the tenants moved into the space.
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What can residents do?
Dulin did urge tenants to look over their leases to see if having air conditioning was something that was promised. If so, there could be some legal recourse.
Within Illinois, there is an implied warranty attached to all rental lease agreements that centers around habitability, according to Thomas Dennis, the managing attorney for the Peoria office of Prairie State Legal Services, an agency that provides legal assistance to people with lower incomes.
“If a tenant believes there is a violation, then they could file an action within the courts and see enforcement that way,” he said. “Arguably, if there are conditions in a home that make the home no longer habitable, that would be a breach of the implied warranty and they could seek relief from court.”
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Implied warranties cover things like roofs caving in, lack of electricity or other serious issues. However, if the lease mentioned air conditioning, for example, that could be enough to get an attorney involved.
Dennis was clear that people should never stop paying rent – even if they feel they have been wronged. While he can’t give specific legal advice to non-clients, he did say people who feel they have a case should contact his office or another attorney’s office to make sure.
On Thursday, Dulin said he had not heard from The Grove Apartments regarding the air conditioning issue.
