With winter fast approaching, there are two city ordinances students should be sure their landlords follow.
Landlords are required to make 67 degrees of heat available year round and to have storm doors and windows installed by Nov. 15.
To deal with the unpredictable Wisconsin weather, furnaces are supposed to be operable year-round. Landlords are required to keep their furnaces in a condition that allows them to be fired up on short notice to provide the requisite 67 degrees of heat.
“A couple weeks ago, when we had our first cold nights, I got a lot of calls from people who couldn’t get in touch with their landlords and whose landlords weren’t calling them back about there not being any heat,” said Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4. “It happens every year at this time and all I can do is tell people to call the building inspector.”
Landlords are also required to install storm doors and windows to prevent cold drafts in apartments.
“My apartment last year was so bad that all my plants by the window froze to death in late November,” said UW student Jon Emery. “I had to move my bed and rearrange my whole apartment so I wouldn’t have to sleep by the windows.”
Other renters voiced similar complaints.
“My landlord last year was a real asshole,” said UW junior Doug Guili. “He told us that he would turn on the furnace when he wanted to, which he finally did in early November.”
He went on to say that throughout October his apartment was unbearably cold, and he and his roommates had to wear jackets in their apartment some nights.
Not all renters had such complaints.
“The heat in my apartment was turned on by the first of October,” said UW graduate Andy Zwygart. “There were a few cold nights, but now it is so hot that I have to keep a window open to keep it from getting too hot.”
While most landlords comply with housing codes, some forget or chose not to. Renters who are having problems with such people are urged to call the building inspector at 266-4551.
“It’s important that renters don’t let their landlord jerk them around,” Verveer said. “Again, I urge anyone having problems with their landlord not providing heat or storms to call the building inspector.”
