THORNTON, Colo.— While most are going to bed nice and warm, tenants in a Colorado apartment complex don’t have that luxury. The heat in some of the buildings is off and they have no idea when it’s coming back on.
Lindsey Underwood has lived in the Renaissance 88 apartment complex in Thornton, Colorado, for 11 years. Her stove is on, but she isn’t baking — she’s surviving.
“In order to kind of heat up my apartment I have my oven on and oven door slightly open,” Underwood explains.
She’s been without heat for nearly four days inside her low-income apartment. Colorado has been experiencing frigid weather this week, with highs on Wednesday expected to reach only 20 degrees and lows close to zero.
“Just because this is income-based ... we are still people, we still deserve to be warm, too,” Underwood said.
Underwood does have hot water. Up until early Tuesday, that was something Patty Orzechowski lived weeks without.
”This is our home and we should be able, like anyone else, to go take a hot shower. My body hurts so bad and I can’t even get a hot shower?” Orzechowski said.
Annette Archuleta says she and everyone else living in building five of the Renaissance 88 apartment complex is living with, "No heat. No hot water."
“I broke down and cried Saturday. I’ve been crying the last three days,” Archuleta said.
Management left a letter on the doors of building two on Monday, offering space heaters to those who need it. Part of the letter stated the “motor has been ordered," further stating it should have been there that day but that it may be delayed a day “due to weather."
The tenants say they feel disrespected.
”Treat us like we matter and this is the first time I’ve ever felt like I didn’t matter,” Orzechowski said.
FPI Management owns the complex. KMGH reached out to the California-based company for comment. No one got back to us.
This story was originally published by Gary Brode on KMGH.
