As this week’s out-of-season heatwave sends temperatures soaring, some Arlington tenants have been left sweating over when their landlord will turn on the air conditioning.
“Consider your fellow community [members] who are elderly, have temperature sensitive pets, or other chronic health conditions,” read a tenant petition posted at Crystal Plaza apartments, where the AC was still off earlier this week. “Many of us have already lost sleep or experienced health incidents due to the heat.”
Unfortunately for residents in many of Arlington’s older apartment buildings, some property managers must navigate a combination of clunky climate control systems and inflexible state laws before they can cool off their tenants. Nevertheless, at least in the case of Crystal Plaza, it appears that relief is possible.
Apartment buildings like this one — built at 2111 Richmond Highway in 1967, according to online property records — tend to run on a two-pipe climate control system that can only provide either heat or air conditioning at any given time. It’s a system that creates problems during the spring and fall, when temperatures can vary widely, but is often prohibitively expensive and disruptive to replace.
Arlington’s Housing Division tends to receive “periodic inquiries” around this time of year, and got two calls about air conditioning last week, Rachel LaPiana, spokesperson for the Department of Community Planning, Housing and Development, told ARLnow.
Technology isn’t the only barrier, though. There’s also a question of legality.
Virginia State Code regulates when landlords have to turn on heat and air conditioning. By law, heating systems have to be on through May 1 — ensuring that tenants stay warm during cooler periods such as the one forecast early next week, when temperatures are expected to dip into the 30s at night.
Failure to comply with this law, even during a heatwave, is a misdemeanor violation of the Virginia Property Maintenance Code, LaPiana said. Noncompliant building owners are liable to receive a violation notice, which can escalate to a hearing before the General District Court if they fail to comply.
After May 1, Virginia landlords have some wiggle room in when, exactly, they crank on the air conditioning. Legally, they aren’t required to provide it at all. But if a cooling system is “either expressed or implied” in a lease, the deadline to turn it on is May 15.
Under a statute last updated in March 2019 via the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, landlords can’t set the thermostat above 77 degrees in the summer.
Virginia law is comparable to D.C. on this issue. The District has the same deadlines for heat and air conditioning, but landlords on that side of the Potomac can leave the thermostat at up to 78 degrees, or 15 degrees below the outside temperature (whichever is higher).
Despite both legal and technical difficulties, relief still seems to be possible in some circumstances. Tenants at Crystal Plaza — whose rental agency, Dweck Properties, declined to comment on this story — received a piece of good news yesterday (Tuesday).
“Due to anticipated extreme heat conditions, our community has been authorized to proceed with an emergency air conditioning system switchover,” the property manager wrote in a notice to tenants. “To help alleviate heat-related discomfort and ensure resident safety, we will begin this process earlier than originally scheduled.”
The email indicated that AC will turn on tomorrow, when highs in the low 90s are still expected.
