Tenants without gas are heating for six weeks after a gas leak was discovered in Middletown apartments

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – Tenants at a Middletown apartment complex have been without gas, hot water and heat for six weeks after a gas leak occurred in the building that was not repaired.

Woodside Village Apartments is a subsidized housing complex that accepts Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers.

Back in September, residents of one of the buildings reported that a gas leak had been discovered, prompting LG&E to shut off gas to the building. Weeks later, the leak still hasn't been repaired and residents say they haven't been informed of the progress by property management company RPM Living.

WAVE interviewed tenants who asked not to be named.

“It's terrible, I just can't explain it. I mean, I have a little heater when it gets cold, but it's not enough,” said a mother who lives in the building with her daughters.

She said they heated water to boiling in the microwave and showered at a friend's house.

Janeisha Payne worked at the complex as a receptionist through a separate agency.

“It wasn't about giving these people a scholarship, it was about giving them gift certificates for food, giving them space heaters, none of that,” Payne said. “It’s just been another day and they’re out of gas like it’s normal.”

Payne says after the tenants lived without gas or heat for five weeks, RPM Living sent a letter offering to allow them to move into a vacant unit. She also says tenants were given the option to stay in a hotel.

However, residents say the company has offered no relocation assistance.

“They told us we had to move our beds to the vacant unit and when we were done, bring them back to our unit, which didn't make any sense, so I refused,” said one resident.

Another resident said after her calls and emails to the property manager and maintenance workers went unanswered, she is now considering terminating her lease.

She sent the property manager a letter citing a Kentucky law that allows leases to be terminated within 30 days due to a landlord's noncompliance unless the violation is remedied within 14 days.

“There's no way to take hot showers, there's no way to cook, there's no way to make hot meals, none of that,” the resident said. “They offered no hotplate, no space heater, nothing to keep you warm, nothing to help you cook.”

Residents say property management raised rents in September, shortly before the gas leak was discovered, and say they were still expected to pay the full amount even though the gas and heat were turned off.

WAVE contacted RPM Living's corporate headquarters for comment and did not immediately receive a response.

“At the end of the day, you wouldn't live like that, you wouldn't want your children, grandchildren or anyone else to live like that,” Payne said. “So don’t make them that way just because they’re income dependent.”

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