Tenants lost heat for days during KC extreme cold. Know how to get help if it happens to you
Larisha Grant, her son and her two toddler nieces spent this Christmas hunkered down, with four layers of blankets wrapped around them and more blankets covering the windows of their home in the Marlborough neighborhood of Kansas City.
Grant said her furnace went out on Dec. 20. In the following days, temperatures dropped below zero around the metro.
She told her landlord about the furnace a few days later on Dec. 23, when she also filed a complaint with Kansas City’s Healthy Homes Rental Inspection Program, which was inundated with winter storm-related calls, according to the city.
Grant’s landlord called multiple companies on Friday who were overloaded with clients and unable to help over the weekend, and he was able to get someone over to fix the heat on Monday.
Due to her health, Grant isn’t very mobile and didn’t have many options in the cold. She was one of at least dozens of tenants across Kansas City who had to live in dangerously freezing conditions over the Christmas weekend.
In midtown, the heat also went out at Westport Central, a 10-floor building with more than 190 units owned by Mac Properties. Emails obtained by The Star show that the heat went out the morning of Dec. 23, when the low was negative 4 degrees in Kansas City. Hours later, tenants were notified about an emergency boiler repair, as well as emergency water repair. The heat was fully restored on the afternoon of Dec. 24.
The extenuating circumstances of the winter storm and the holiday weekend made it particularly difficult for cold tenants to get heat restored. But, you do have a right to a warm apartment in both Missouri and Kansas, and there are resources available if you ever find yourself in a bind.
Freezing on Christmas
Grant said the bitter wind made its way into her home through a broken window and drafty fireplace.
“I couldn’t cook. I couldn’t take a bath. I couldn’t do nothing but sit under blankets and be cold,” she said. “We sat like that for days and days and days.”
The Star spoke with Grant’s landlord, who agreed to discuss the situation on the grounds that his name not be used, and said he did everything he could to assist Grant’s family. The landlord told The Star he called five heating and cooling companies on Friday to try to get someone out to Grant’s house, but they were all slammed with customers and unable to come over the weekend. He then offered to pay for a hotel, which Grant said were all booked up, and helped her get an electric heater.
Grant said she also bought as many space heaters as she could afford — nine spread throughout the house. She kept the oven on. She wrapped up in layers of blankets and clothes and cuddled up with her two little nieces.
On Monday, her landlord was able to get someone out to fix the furnace.
On Wednesday, an inspector from the city’s Healthy Homes program stopped by the house and confirmed that the heat was up and running, and the home met health and safety standards. The inspector notified the landlord about the broken window, which the landlord then fixed on Thursday, according to Grant.
Typically after receiving a complaint, someone from the city’s Healthy Homes program will call the tenant back within 48 hours, notify the landlord and then send an inspector over. If the inspector decides the situation is an emergency, the city can offer assistance, otherwise they can issue violations to landlords to make needed repairs.
Last week’s storm and the Christmas holiday made it more challenging for Healthy Homes staff to get back to some tenants who filed complaints on Friday before the weekend, but staff responded to all complaints as soon as they got back to the office, said Naser Jouhari, deputy director of the Kansas City Health Department.
“Friday afternoon before a three day weekend, it was unique. It was an emergency throughout the city,” Jouhari told The Star. “We were hearing from people about frozen pipes and water leaking through the units.”
The program received an influx of weather-related complaints from tenants and responded on Friday to at least one tenant in a life-threatening situation.
“That was really difficult because plumbers and technicians were in such demand,” said Michelle Pekarsky, a spokesperson for the city. “People could not get plumbers for days and days.”
Do tenants have a right to heat?
In Missouri, landlords’ obligation to keep apartments “habitable” includes keeping it heated, Michelle Albano, an attorney with Legal Aid of Western Missouri told The Star last winter.
It’s illegal for landlords to turn off a tenant’s essential utilities in Missouri, unless it’s for health and safety reasons.
In addition to the state law, Kansas City has some additional protections for renters as part of its Tenant Bill of Rights, which passed through the city government in 2019. It includes that “tenants have the right to housing that can be heated to a habitable temperature.”
In Kansas, the law says clearly that the landlord is required to supply heat during the winter months, and that it must be possible to keep the temperature in the apartment at 68 degrees between October and May.
While the landlord doesn’t have to pay for utilities, they must provide working equipment, according to Kansas state law.
What should tenants do if the heat isn’t working?
Albano from Legal Aid said that tenants in Missouri should first ask their landlord to repair the heater.
The law says a tenant should request that repair within a “reasonable amount of time.” An example of something a judge may consider an unreasonable amount of time would be if a tenant waited until the pipes in the apartment froze and burst before they notified the landlord, Albano said.
The main thing to know: Report any significant issues as soon as possible, and in writing, Albano said.
Albano also recommended that tenants keep a copy of any emails, texts or letters they send to their landlord about repairs. If the repairs still aren’t made 14 days after the request, the tenant can seek help to fix the problem on their own and can deduct the cost from the following month’s rent. But, Albano said it may be smart to talk with a lawyer or housing advocate before taking that step. Some resources are listed further down.
It’s not that different in Kansas. Landlords must repair anything that makes the apartment unlivable. Kevin Thompson, a tenant attorney with Kansas Legal Services, recommended that tenants request repairs from their landlord, and the state law says those requests should be in writing.
Tenants can take the cost of repairs out of the following month’s rent payment if both the landlord and the tenant sign an agreement to do that, according to Kansas state law.
What other options do you have if your heat goes out?
For additional assistance, Kansas City renters can contact the city through its Healthy Homes Rental Inspection Program online or by calling 816-513-6464. Or, you can call 311 or report it online.
Healthy Homes can send an inspector to your home to check for any violations and can let your landlord know what repairs need to be made to make sure your home meets health and safety standards.
“We have a live person to answer the phone during business hours,” Naser from the health department said.
He recommended that renters in urgent situations call the Healthy Homes number before filing a complaint online.
In emergencies, the program can intervene further and can even help relocate tenants in unsafe housing situations, which can include heat.
“We will relocate a tenant if they’re not going to have a source of heat for an extended period of time,” Naser said. “We’ll work with the landlord to provide an alternative source of heat or find a hotel.”
Kansas tenants can also call their local code enforcement offices. Residents in Wyandotte County can contact the rental inspection division for issues that the landlord isn’t responding to. The same goes for Olathe and Overland Park residents.
If nothing happens after all of that, and the unit has become unlivable, tenants can talk to an attorney about other legal options, Albano said.
Important tip: Still pay your rent. Albano does NOT recommend holding out on paying rent if your heat is off because landlords can then sue and evict you for nonpayment.
Who can you call if you have more questions about your rights as a tenant or as a landlord?
Here are a few local housing organizations, including KCMO’s program, Kansas City’s tenant union, and several legal service providers.
Kansas City Healthy Homes Rental Inspection Program: 816-513-6464
KC Tenants: 816-533-5435
Heartland Center for Jobs & Freedom: 816-278-1344
Legal Aid of Western Missouri: 816-474-6750
Kansas Legal Services: 913-621-0200
Kansas Housing: 785-217-2001
If you need help paying your rent, utilities or other housing needs, the United Way of Greater Kansas City has this list of local programs that can help, depending on which county or city you live in.
Do you have any other questions about your rights or your home? Is there a program we missed? Any additional assistance? Reach out to us at kcq@kcstar.com.