Living with no heat, no hot water: Help Me Hank comes to the rescue

Apartment written up for violations

DETROIT – An apartment building in Detroit has a long list of issues that include broke windows, bad water, no hot water and the most pressing issue with falling temperatures: no heat.

Things at the apartment have gotten so bad that city inspectors have been writing up violations. Tennant said little is being done to correct the issues and they contacted Help Me Hank for assistance.

The people who live there said they've been dealing with City Property Management Group in Harper Woods. Help Me Hank has looked at another property that group manages, a home on Basset Street in Detroit. The Tennant who lives there said her furnace has been broken for two months.

City Property Management said they very recently stopped managing the apartment building, and as for the house on Bassett the furnace was fixed hours after Local 4 stopped by the office.

As for the apartment building, space heaters were brought in Thursday and work on the boiler is underway. It is expected to be fixed by the weekend. Other contractors are on site working to fix other issues.

Local 4 was told that the building has a new owner and will soon have a new property management company taking over.

Watch the video above.

If you’re having trouble with your rental apartment or house, the city wants to hear from you.

Dave Bell, the director of the Building Safety Engineering and Environmental Department of the City of Detroit, says there are ways you can be heard. The city is working hard to make sure tenants are being taken care of.

Here’s some links with more information:


About the Authors:

Hank Winchester is Local 4’s Consumer Investigative Reporter and the head of WDIV’s “Help Me Hank” Consumer Unit. Hank works to solve consumer complaints, reveal important recalls and track down thieves who have ripped off people in our community.