Tenants of Little Rock apartment complex left without heat despite freezing temperatures

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The temperatures are set to hit their lowest mark on Monday night, which has forced many to turn on the heater. but one apartment complex in Little Rock is not warming up.

As a matter of fact, they can’t.

The staff at the Parris Tower apartments says they say the boilers won’t be turned on until later this month, leaving those in the complex without heat for the cold temperatures.

One resident shared that they typically have problems with the air conditioning turning on in the summer, not typically with the heat.

“So, this is just a very weird thing. We’ve had no explanation why, no justification, other than it supposedly going to be a warmer winter,” the resident said.

The apartment is owned by Wisconsin-based Gorman and Company, which did not return our phone call, but staff at the apartment complex explained that they run off a boiler system for heat.

Staff also reportedly advised residents that they were not going to turn the heat on until the end of the month, due to the warmer weather.

“Their communication seemed to be very clear that it was Thanksgiving or later, late in November, that they were going to turn it on, because they had the paperwork that says something about, magically, it’s going to be warmer than normal going into the winter season. So, therefore, they were justified in not turning the heat,” said the resident.

The resident also voiced concerns over the safety of their neighbors who have been to alternatives to heat their apartments.  

“We’ve had, we have elderly people who are running their stoves and stuff to stay warm, which I don’t think is particularly safe. I’ve had in the past, in 20 years living there, we’ve had people die of carbon monoxide poisoning, from running their ovens to heat and malfunctioning,” the resident said.

The resident explained that getting AC has also been a problem for the residents during warmer conditions in the summertime.

“There’s usually been our problem with them in the past has been air conditioning because they just seem to fail to grasp the concept of, you know, it’s 90 degrees outside and folks can’t sleep. So that’s usually been our problem with our landlord from Wisconsin, but they’re a corporate landlord, and it’s very clear that we’re not a priority unless it’s about paying the rent,” the resident said.

Temperatures are expected to come back up later in the week, but that doesn’t help the residents of the Parris Towers for Monday night into Tuesday morning.

For now, they are asking for one thing.

“We don’t care. We want heat,” said the resident.

We have also reached out to the city’s code enforcement and the Metropolitan Housing Authority, and have not heard back. 

The other concern of the resident is those with medical conditions and how the temperatures at night will impact them.