City sues Lincoln Park apartment building for no heat, water

Heat and hot water were finally restored to a Lincoln Park apartment building, Sunday, Jan. 29, after nearly a week without the amenities.

The City of Chicago took the building owners to court when they failed to restore heat and hot water after a blocked chimney cut off the supply. In order to comply with the court order, the owners installed a temporary chimney until the permanent one can be fixed.

The apartment building, located at 2738 N. Pine Grove Ave., is one of the nearly 700 Chicago buildings built before 1975 that have not been updated to comply with current building regulations. This is due to a loophole that doesn't require the updates until Jan. 1, 2015. The Department of Buildings maintains that this had nothing to do with the blocked chimney, however.

"The Chicago Building Code requires building owners to provide tenants with adequate heat every day in the cold weather months, period. The year the building was constructed is not relevant," said Caroline Weisser, a spokesperson for the Department of Buildings.

According to the City of Chicago Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance, a tenant may file a request for a hazardous problem to be fixed within 24 or 72 hours when the damage is not their responsibility. When the building owners left the tenants without heat and hot water for more than 72 hours, the city took them to court.

Before the temporary chimney was installed, residents were forced to find other ways to heat their apartments. This involved the excessive use of space heaters and ovens, which can cause fires.

Although the weather has been fairly mild this winter, temperatures were in the 30s during the time the residents did not have access to heat and hot water. Until the temporary chimney was installed, they had to choose between heightened risk of a fire or freezing temperatures. Without any heat sources, the building owners were violating a Chicago building code.

"The Chicago Building Code requires building owners to provide tenants with adequate heat every day in the cold weather months," according to a statement from the Department of Buildings. "From September 1 to June 1, the temperature inside a rental residence must be at least 68 degrees during the day and at least 66 degrees in the evening."

Since the court order, the building owners took action to restore heat and hot water and began to fix the permanent chimney.

This building is not the only one in Chicago that was inadequately heated this winter. According to the Department of Buildings statement, there have been more than 5,000 complaints with 4,500 of them requiring inspection. Of those buildings, 770 were found to have inadequate heating, and more than 100 of the cases had to be brought to court to restore heat. Despite these regulation violations, the Department of Buildings maintains the city is doing everything it can to ensure the well-being of residents.

"The City's first concern is the safety of the residents."