MEMPHIS, Tenn. — After almost a month, residents at the Venue apartment complex still don’t have heat or hot water.
Monday, the nightmare got worse when another service was turned off.
Tenants told ABC24 they had no power for close to six hours in what was supposed to be part of the effort to restore their heat and hot water.
But when the lights finally went back on, the heat and hot water still didn’t, leaving tenants even more in the dark.
“I can’t run no more than two space heaters at a time,” said Alicia Dietrich, who’s lived there since 2020. “We’re supposed to be getting into the 20s soon and we don’t know when we’re supposed to have hot water or heat.”
Dietrich and her neighbors have gone close to three weeks without hot water and four without heat.
“It’s been horrible,” she said. “We’ve been boiling water to take baths, boiling water to wash dishes, all of that. And they don’t know when it’s going to be turned on.”
And so the wait continues, with no end in sight.
“I sit (outside) here all day when I’m here because it’s just as cold as up there,” said another resident, who did not wish to appear on camera.
Managers have said the issues are related to the carbon monoxide leaks on November 22. But dated messages from property management show the services were off before then.
The lengthy power outage only added to their misery.
“They sent us a text this morning saying they were shutting the power off at like 9:57 and it didn’t get turned back on until 4:30,” Dietrich said.
The Venue also has yet to repair several front doors damaged when firefighters had to break in during the gas leak.
“It’s been hard,” Dietrich said. “I’ve got an autistic son that’s got sensory processing disorder, so not taking a proper bath, he doesn’t know how to react to it because I’m boiling water and putting it in a 5-pound bucket.”
Dietrich says she is trying to get out of her lease with a 30-day notice instead of the required 60 days.
The resident who wished to stay anonymous suggested something more drastic.
“Not pay rent,” they offered.
The property manager for Stella Maris Property Management sent out a letter to residents Friday saying they were making progress on restoring heat and hot water and they are crediting tenants two weeks off their monthly rent.
The letter was posted on a bulletin board. One fed-up resident left a cry for help, writing, “We need Hot H2O.”
ABC24 reached out to Stella Maris but they have not responded and the leasing office was already closed when camera crews arrived Monday evening.