Cold and Wet in the Summertime

Despite being mid-May, the temperature outside is a balmy 55 degrees Fahrenheit, plus rain. The temperature in my apartment is below 60, and I have a chronic cough. Why don't I just turn on the heat? Well, I can't.

That is, I can, but only cold air comes out of the register, despite the thermostat being set at 80 (not that I want it at 80, but I put it there to see if that raised the temperature of the air. It didn't). I called maintenance. After reaching a busy signal for 30 minutes, a friendly lady answered the phone.

"Why don't I have any heat in my apartment?" I asked.

"The heat has been turned off in preparation for the air conditioning," she said.

"But it's cold, and will be for the rest of the week," I said.

"The heat has been turned off in preparation for the air conditioning," she said.

"But I don't need air conditioning, I need heat. I'm sick," I said.

"The heat has been turned off in preparation for the air conditioning," she said.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"The heat has been turned off in preparation for the air conditioning," she said.

"So I can't get heat until next winter?" I asked.

"No. The heat has been turned of in preparation for the air conditioning," she said.

"There's nothing I can do?" I asked.

"No. The heat has been turned off in preparation for the air conditioning," she said.

After another fit of coughing, I went down to the management office. Only the concierge was there. He didn't like the situation, but he couldn't tell me anything more beyond something having to do with sediment in the pipes that has to be cleared out before the air conditioning can be turned on.

"Sediment?" I asked. "In what pipes? This means nothing to me. I'm cold and coughing and the temperature is supposed to be in the forties tonight."

"I know," he said. "But they will tell you the same thing. Other people have called. One lady said she had a little baby. All I can tell you is to turn on the oven and open its door. The gas bill will be higher but you will be warm."

"Isn't that illegal?" I asked.

"What else can you do?" he said.

All of the managers were at lunch. At the same time. He was the only person in the office.

I'm not sure if this is a situation that can be considered "uninhabitable" according to law. We haven't had heat for over a month; and while we have had warm days during that month, none have called for air conditioning but many on end have called for heat. This place has been doing "renovations," which seem to mean only cosmetic changes because, if you have a system that allows only heat or air, and over a month of neither before you can switch from one to the other, shouldn't that be the first thing to replace?

Of course, this is the same place that replaced the carpet and ceiling tiles in the hall, but not the leaky pipe that has left a large, visible mildew stain on one and led to the removal of tiles, exposing the leaky pipe, from the other. This is the same place that threatens eviction if you turn in your rent on the second, instead of the first; has hired a towing service to sweep the parking lots nightly but can't seem to get the security lights in the same parking lots to work; and doesn't check to see if their contractors for these renovations have actually done the work for which they were contracted.

I like living up on the 20th floor. I like the space and the view. I like the balcony. But, holy shit, shouldn't I be able to get heat when the weather is wintry? Should the response to this be "just move"?

I'm not sure if I should contact a lawyer.

ETA: Turns out I don't have to call a lawyer just yet. A county department handles this sort of thing. For free.

ETA, 6:30 pm: The county says that the complex should be giving us space heaters. In fact, they specifically told me, "Go to the management office, go to Manager X, and she will give you a space heater." Manager X, her co-managers, and the supervising General Manager are unaware of this arrangment. They have no space heaters. Maintenance has no space heaters. The receptionist, who relayed all of this information to me, told me to take the situation to maintenance from now on. In other words, management does not want to be bothered with it.

Other people in the building are heating their apartments with the gas ovens, which can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning. Management is unconcerned; or at least the receptionist is unconcerned and did not relay my message to the managers.

I may call that lawyer after all.