COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – The owners of an apartment complex on the city’s Southeast Side have been sued over poor living conditions that include no heat.

Columbus’ Property Action Team filed the lawsuit last week against the owners of the Life at Edgewater Landing apartment complex, located in the Eastland area off Refugee Road, according to court documents.

The lawsuit claims the owners failed to have working heat in dozens of apartments, forcing the city to evacuate 49 units amid frigid temperatures outside and low temperatures in the units. Documents state that Code Enforcement received multiple notices in recent months that units have been without heat due to a failing boiler system.

Some of the tenants said they have not been told when the repairs will be completed, but hope it is soon.

“Please make them come out here and make it habitable for me,” tenant William Johnson said.

“We’re just trying to get some justice, you know, and whatever the pressure they put on them, that’s as good as good because they don’t listen to us,” tenant Frederick Mills said.

Code Enforcement reportedly inspected the property with each complaint and determined that the patchwork fixes being made were an insufficient long-term solution and that the system needed to be replaced. In January, an emergency notice to repair the system was issued.

“They were doing patch works for the patch works, weren’t sufficient in order to sustain the heat when it gets down to zero degrees and some of the units ultimately were failing,” Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein said.

In addition to issues with the heating systems, Code Enforcement cited the property owners for more than 100 additional violations over the past two years, with 51 violations remaining outstanding. Documents also state that there have been more than 1,100 calls for police service to the premises over the past two years.

According to court documents, police have responded to reports of five shootings, 33 shots fired, and 48 persons with guns. CPD has also taken over 340 offense reports at the property since January 2023. These reports include 25 assaults, eight felony assaults, and one homicide.

The Columbus Fire Department has been called to the complex over 600 times since January 2023. These calls include 13 calls for drug overdoses.

“Well, the last few months, it’s been terrible on top of crime,” Mills said. “It’s bad out here. It really is.”

The lawsuit seeks to recoup the cost of relocating affected households to temporary housing under the city’s recently enacted Relocation Assistance Code, which requires landlords to cover relocation costs due to emergency vacate orders. The city said it is the first property it has filed against under this new ordinance.

“I think that it sets a level of purposeful accountability with landlords that if you’re not spending the money over the course of time to make sure that your units are up to speed,” Klein said of the new code.

As of 4 p.m., representatives for the complex’s landlords have not responded to a request for comment.