Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is once again going after a property manager who allegedly failed to provide adequate air conditioning at their apartment complex in Phoenix.
Mayes’s office issued a demand letter to The Elton Apartment Homes and Diamond Asset Management demanding an immediate fix to the lack of proper AC.
In the letter, Mayes said a 66-year-old man died after his AC went out and he was not given a portable fan. One pregnant tenant was admitted to the hospital due to heat — it was 97 degrees inside her apartment.
The AG’s Office found that the malfunction began around July 5. Five days later, almost all of the apartments lacked functional air conditioning. Earlier this month, Mayes sent a cease-and-desist letter to a senior living home after tenants there reported that the A/C had broke.
Arizona landlords have an obligation to fix a broken AC within five days of written notice if temperatures rise to a level that presents a health and safety risk. This timeframe may be shorter if the temperature inside the unit is higher than what is allowed by individual city code.
If your landlord continues to fail to repair the broken AC, you may file a consumer complaint with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. If you need a complaint form sent to you, you can contact the Attorney General’s Office in Phoenix at (602) 542-5763, in Tucson at (520) 628-6648, or outside the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas at (800) 352-8431.
The Attorney General’s Office will continue to investigate the complex.
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