Windsor man living without heat inside downtown apartment unit for nearly one year
A Windsor, Ont., man is pursuing legal action to try and recover hydro costs he incurred due to his apartment unit being left without heat for nearly a full year.
"We just woke up one day and it was extremely cold," said Jordan Arsenault. "I don't think anyone really thought this would be such a long standing issue but here we are."
While the company which manages the property says heat has been restored to many of the units since, Arsenaut still relies on thick layers of clothing and a portable heater as his only sources of warmth.
It was March 2022 when tenants received a notice from Marda Management alerting them that the heat was no longer working. With tenants plugging in electric heaters to stay warm, Marda Management covered hydro costs for the first two months of the outage.
The lack of heat was a non-issue between May and September since the weather outside was warm and comfortable, Arsenualt said.
That changed in October when Marda Management brought another notice to tenants' doors — providing them with supplemental heaters to stay warm. But, according to Arsenault, the heaters provided by Marda are "not very adequate."
"They don't heat my space. I had to purchase my own heater. That's a lot better,” he said.
Doing so has resulted in increased hydro costs.
Nick, another tenant who lives on the floor above Arsenault, said he is in the same boat and is calling for all hydro expenses to be covered for the full duration of the heating outage.
"They've made no attempt to be proactive about compensating for hydro costs increasing during this winter," said Nick.
"I don't really understand why that is suddenly an issue or something that hasn't been communicated to us."
The apartment complex on Pitt Street West is overlooked by Marda Management. Pictured in Windsor, Ont. on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023. (Sanjay Maru/CTV News Windsor)
Marda Management CEO Marla Coffin tells CTV News the company brought in a boiling vendor to assess the situation at 524 Pitt St. W. upon learning of the heating issues last year.
According to Coffin, who said the building is more than 100 years old, the vendor determined a full replacement of the boiler was needed.
"Unfortunately, we were at the end of heating season so it was a 20-week wait for the boiler," said Coffin.
"The boiler was replaced last fall and we've been battling with a couple remaining issues since then."
Coffin added heat has been restored to most of the 26 units inside.
For the units where that is not the case, she said, the boiling vendor needs to secure parts to fix radiators inside those units. However, there have been issues with securing the parts.
A notice from Marda Management was provided to tenants on Jan. 23, letting them know a technician would be coming to install the parts on Jan. 26.
A follow-up notice, issued to tenants on Feb. 2, shows that did not happen.
"Unfortunately, the supplier short shipped and only a total of four [steam radiator] bleeders were delivered," the notice reads, before clarifying that the parts are being shipped in from the United States.
The notice goes on to say any bleeders received Thursday would be installed Friday. Speaking with CTV News on Saturday, Coffin said that didn't happen either.
"Unfortunately, in this particular circumstance, they did not come in," she said. "We're hoping they'll be in Monday and we'll be installing them promptly thereafter."
For Arsenault, much of his last year has been spent going to other people's houses to escape the cold, layering up with multiple sweaters and keeping his guitar on the sidelines since his fingers are far too cold to play well.
But for some of his neighbours, he added, their situations are far more dire.
"A multitude of tenants walk through here from all walks of life. Some with kids, families, older people," said Arsenault.
"I've been in contact with 311 and, just recently, I've filed with the Landlord and Tenant Board just due to the lack of immediacy on situation."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.