As the summer temperatures in North Texas climbed to sweltering heights, the City’s Code Compliance Department has been fining landlords for failing to repair broken air conditioning units.
With triple-digit temperatures hanging around more or less consistently since mid-June, ensuring that the City-imposed minimum housing standards are met for Dallas renters has reportedly become a priority of the department.
The City of Dallas Code Compliance Chapter 27 Housing Standards Manual specifies that owners of rental units “shall provide and maintain in operating condition, refrigerated air equipment capable of maintaining a room temperature of at least 15 degrees cooler than the outside temperature, but in no event higher than 85°F in each habitable room.”
“Usually when there’s no A/C, we’ll feel it right away,” explained Amy Del Toro, a code compliance supervisor for the City, according to WFAA. “85 and above, then that would be considered a life hazard.”
As recently covered by The Dallas Express, some residents of the Rosemont at Meadow Lane apartment complex filed complaints about living in apartments with temperatures ranging from 95 to 100 degrees due to broken air conditioning units. As a result, the Code Compliance Department conducted an investigation and issued the owner a total of 34 citations in late August.
“The fine is usually $650 per violation per day,” Del Toro said, referring to these citations, per WFAA.
The situation at Rosemont at Meadow Lane was by no means an isolated incident. Code compliance officers field over 100 complaints on the City’s 311 line about air conditioning units every week.
As part of their investigations, code compliance officers from the Multi-Tenant and Single-Family Rental Division inspect vents, check thermostats, and take temperature readings at the rental properties that receive complaints.
“We have had … some older, elderly [people, and] small children that are in these units with no AC,” Del Toro said, according to WFAA.
If landlords do not take action, even after fines are imposed, the matter is escalated to court proceedings.