Mississippi renter Sonia Bolden, a tenant at Briarcliff Apartments, said a missing air-conditioning condenser turned a maintenance problem into a health and safety scare.
According to WAPT, she said the four-day outage created temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit in her apartment.
Here's what to know
After her AC stopped working, Bolden told WAPT that she discovered it was not a routine repair issue. While she was waiting for help, a maintenance worker told her the outdoor condenser serving her unit was missing.
"He said your unit is gone. They took the whole unit," Bolden said. "Yes, the maintenance guy told me this. Your whole unit is gone, so what are we going to do about this?"
Even with the thermostat set to 50 F when the TV station visited, the temperature reading inside the apartment was 83 F. Bolden said she had already submitted a work order to management, but the unit still had not been replaced.
Bolden made a report to the Jackson Police Department. When reporters went to the apartment management office during business hours, no one was there to answer questions about what happened or whether the condenser would be replaced.
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Why is this concerning?
"I'm steadily saying, 'Why is it hot in here?'" Bolden recalled. "The weekend comes, and no one is in the office. All of a sudden, the whole weekend I'm going through 90 degrees. My AC is on 50 auto, and I'm like, it's not getting cold in here."
Air conditioning is far from a luxury in extreme heat. Losing it for days can mean sleepless nights and unsafe indoor temperatures, especially when renters have little control over repair timelines.
When critical building systems fail, tenants often have to depend on landlords or property managers to act quickly.
Across the country, renters have also run into rules that block other money-saving changes that could make daily life easier, including growing food in small gardens or hanging clotheslines to dry laundry.
What can be done?
Clear communication and timely repairs can make sure something like this doesn't happen again. When cooling equipment goes missing or breaks down, tenants need direct answers about the process from the people who can give them.
Keeping copies of maintenance requests, taking photos of thermostat readings, and recording dates of conversations can create a paper trail if a repair drags on. Filing a police report, as Bolden did, may also be an important step when equipment appears to have been stolen.
"I'm 54 years old, and I should not have to go through this," Bolden said.
Where can I learn more?
Renters in other states have also been stuck in dangerous heat when air conditioning fails, often with few legal protections and growing calls to treat cooling as a basic housing standard.
• In Arizona, renters facing triple-digit heat were told landlords may have five days to restore cooling.
• After Washington state's deadly heat dome, advocates pushed to make air conditioning a basic right.
• In Texas, tenants get a disappointing answer when asking for crucial AC changes.
If you're in a similar situation, these examples or something close to them may also help you create better, safer living conditions for yourself and others.
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