SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WXYZ) — Residents at The Sapphire apartment complex in Southfield say the building's air conditioning system isn't working.
7 Action News has reported on the property in recent years regarding a host of issues. Most recently, the building didn't have heat in the winter.
Tenants say the building has changed hands and is now under new management. They hoped that meant the property would get the care and upkeep it so badly needs. They say, so far, that hasn't been the case.
“It’s not livable anymore," tenant Amber Schroeder said.
Schroeder and her husband Eric say they moved into the complex last August. Once January came and the heat didn’t work, they say they determined it's time to move again.
Now, residents say the building is without air conditioning.
“We’ve actually spent most of today touring other apartments and used (other apartment's) AC," Amber Schroeder chuckled.
Eric Schroeder said, “We’re on the fourth floor. I know some people are up on floor 18th, 19th, and they’re dying in there.”
“I’m a schoolteacher in Detroit. It was warm enough today that they called school (off) about halfway into the day. So, it’s warm enough to warrant AC. We just went and bought a fan," he explained.
Lila Free said she moved to the complex in February.
"I had a friend give me a space heater, which was a real lifesaver," she recalled.
She said it was a frigid winter in the unit and now a hot spring day without AC.
“Everyone’s unit is different. Some people don’t have heat, some people don’t have cold. Some people’s water comes out brown — I’ve had that happen a few times to me," Free explained.
7 Action News spoke with another tenant, Elle Green, Tuesday.
“We have lots of elderly people that live in the building," she said. “The elevators go out. They were going out every other day, sometimes multiple times a day."
In an attempt to get answers, 7 Action News stopped by the leasing office on Tuesday. We left contact information with an agent and asked for the property manager or the new property owner to call us. We didn’t hear back.
So, we called the leasing office Wednesday to follow up. The agent said she’d forward the message again. As of Wednesday night, we have not heard back.
7 Action News spoke with the city of Southfield Building Department Wednesday. The department said air conditioning isn’t something the city oversees with apartment buildings like it does with heat in the winter.
