COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Despite cold winter weather, some renters have been stranded without heat in central Ohio.

Tenants have rights, and they include the right to health and safety standards being upheld in their home. Although landlords are not liable for paying for the heat or water used in a rented apartment, they are responsible to maintaining access to heat and water.

Under Columbus law, all homes must have working running water capable of being heated to at least 110 degrees Fahrenheit and must have heating facilities that heat all habitable rooms to at least 70 degrees Fahrenheit. If the problem violates the building, housing or health and safety code, tenants can call the Housing Inspector of the Health Department, who will inspect the property at no charge to the tenant.

“The best and most efficient fashion is to call 311 and make that complaint,” Anthony Celebrezze III, deputy director for the Columbus Department of Building and Zoning Services, said.

Celebrezze said operators with 311 will address the call and connect it with the right people, which is often code enforcement. From there, an inspector will come out and attempt to work with the landlord to get the heat back on. If the problem will be a delayed solution, such as a failed boiler system that forced 49 evacuations from Edgewater Landing apartments this week, the city will help tenants move. See previous coverage of the Edgewater Landing lawsuit in the video player above.

“If the unit is not holding temperature at 69, 70 degrees Fahrenheit, we can invoke a rection of the city code that requires landlords to rehome them,” Celebrezze said.

If a landlord cannot or will not relocate a tenant to another, working unit or arrange a hotel stay, the city will step in again to ensure they are safely relocated to temporary housing. Celebrezze said relocation is accompanied by its own challenges, from discomfort to adjusting to a new school bus schedule for children to get to school. He said the city makes sure no costs fall on the tenants as they navigate this.

“Generally speaking, they don’t cause this. They’re already going through hardship,” he said.

This applies regardless of renters’ immigration status. Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said absent a court order, the city will not deploy resources to detect someone’s immigration status unless there is a crime, arrest or criminal warrant.

If the city steps in to rehome tenants, Columbus law requires landlords to reimburse the city for the cost.