Tenants of East Hills apartment complex moved to hotels after losing heat in extreme cold
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - After more than a dozen tenants at the Maple Ridge Apartments in East Hills were without heat, the city stepped in to help.
A resident described what it was like to have a warm place to rest in the frigid temperatures.
"It was cool got food took a shower, I didn't have to worry about coming out the shower all cold," said Donald Ware.
The Department of Permits, Licenses, and Inspections arrived to check 18 units, two were condemned, six did have heat, and 10 are awaiting authorization to be inspected.
Tenants who live in those apartments, including Ware were moved to this hotel in Monroeville last evening.
"It's an inconvenience, hopefully, Maple Ridge gets it together they have been about two months, maybe longer than that there's been no heat," Ware said.
Tenants say the problems here are mounting electrical issues, rodent infestation, a deadly fire three weeks ago, and now this.
"We did see with our own eyes apartments that are being heated by ovens," Councilman Khari Mosley said. "It's unacceptable for people to be living in these conditions."
According to Councilman Mosley, who was here all day yesterday, the owners are Seattle-based. However, New York-based MMS Group manages the property.
We reached out to MMS Group and were told an executive would reach out but no one did.
Currently, the city is incurring the cost of Pittsburgh Regional Transit busses to warm up residents and hotel transportation.
It's unclear how long residents will be staying here.
"We definitely plan on billing the ownership," said Councilman Mosley.