East Central Fresno apartment tenants left without AC for months

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Multiples fans were the only thing keeping Mack Martin cool after he says he's been living without working AC for a month.

"Where I was having to sleep in 100 plus heat, now we're down to 92, 93," he said.

Martin lives at the Landing at Fancher Creek and says he told the management about the broken AC in May.

It's now mid-June, and his thermostat read at 97 degrees on Wednesday. It's been one of the cooler days.

"Most of the time, the thermostat reads high, it only goes up to 99, when it's 100 and higher, we can't tell," Martin said.

He's not the only one. The apartment complex has 20 open requests for AC issues.

Adriana Magana says she, her husband, and two daughters have also been without AC for weeks.

A pool sits outside her door to help her kids cool off.

Magan says all she has gotten from the property manager is excuses.

"It's hard. I want to get out from these apartments...everything I need fixed, they don't want to fix it," she said.

Apartment officials say they received too many requests at once, and are trying to catch up. While they make repairs to the units, they're now putting tenants up in hotels.

"We should've gone through and done that to begin with," said district supervisor Letti Shamma. "We have maintenance staff that's here and continuously knocking on doors until we get someone so we can resolve and put them into a hotel, or give them more AC units."

Martin says, coincidentally, he was also offered a hotel stay just before we arrived to speak with him.

His AC was fixed about an hour after Action News interviewed him. The thermostat inside his apartment now reads at a comfortable 73.

"It was this easy...but they lied and fought me to the nail for a month when that's what they needed to do," he said. "That blows my mind."

He's hoping the same solution for the many others that are still sitting in the heat and waiting for a cooler breeze.

The property manager is asking tenants to speak to them if they are having an AC issue. They're hoping to resolve all the issues within the next 48-72 hours.

Apartment officials are also expecting an inspector with the city to check on repairs, and say they'll be working him them to make any more needed repairs.