A Fort Worth tenant says her family, including a 5-year-old sibling, went without working air conditioning for days this summer as temperatures climbed into triple digits, forcing them to cook while sweating heavily and cool off by opening the refrigerator door and waiting for cold air to drift out. The apartment sits at The Hayes, a complex off Southwest Loop 820, where city inspectors have logged repeated air conditioning violations even as the property's management insists most units have already been fixed.
The tenant, who spoke anonymously, told NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth that she first reported her broken air conditioner in July and waited roughly three days before it was addressed. When a repair crew did come out, she said, the unit started blowing heat instead of cool air and still did not work. She said she worries the ongoing heat could put her family at risk of heat stroke.
The Hayes is a 418-unit complex built in 1971 and located at 4151 SW Loop 820, according to After55.com. Dallas-based Sentinel Peak Capital Partners, a private real estate firm founded in 2015 that manages more than $1.25 billion in multifamily assets across Texas, took over management of the property last year, the same NBC 5 report notes.
City Inspectors Keep Finding Broken Units
Fort Worth's Code Compliance Department has issued five AC violations at The Hayes since last month, per the station's report, and during a reinspection this week, staff found that one unit had been repaired while two others still were not working. Under Fort Worth rules, installed air conditioning must maintain at least a 15-degree difference between outside and inside temperatures, per the same account.
Sentinel Peak Capital Partners told the outlet that most AC units at the property have already been repaired and that the remaining units are scheduled for repair as soon as possible by a contractor. The company said it has spent nearly $2 million on improvements at the property and will continue investing in The Hayes going forward, the report states.
What Texas Law Says Renters Can Do
Benjamin Gerzik, a staff attorney with Legal Aid of Northwest Texas, said air conditioning problems at rental properties are quite common, the article notes. Texas tenants generally give landlords about seven days to fix a repair problem before pursuing further action, and state code gives renters the right to formally request repairs and, if the timeline lapses, to take a landlord to court, according to the same report.
That seven-day window traces back to Section 92.056 of the Texas Property Code, which creates a rebuttable presumption that a week is a reasonable timeframe for a landlord to fix a health or safety issue once written notice is received, according to Justia Law. Separately, Section 92.0561 lets tenants hire a licensed contractor themselves to fix severe health and safety defects and deduct the cost from rent, capped at the greater of one month's rent or $500 per month, per FindLaw.
If a landlord still fails to make diligent repair efforts after that notice, tenants can sue in justice court to recover statutory penalties of one month's rent plus $500, along with actual damages and a court order to complete repairs, under Section 92.0563 as described by the Texas Attorney General's office in reporting from the Westrom Group. To trigger those remedies, written repair notices generally must go out by certified mail with return receipt requested, which satisfies the legal notice requirement without a second follow-up letter, according to reporting from CBS News.
Regional Comparisons and Local Reporting Options
Neighboring Dallas has its own, more specific benchmark: city housing code there requires refrigerated air capable of keeping room temperatures at least 15 degrees cooler than outside conditions, capped at no higher than 85 degrees, with a 24-hour compliance mandate once an inspection flags a violation, according to FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth. Fort Worth's own Code Compliance Department conducts multi-family rental inspections and runs seasonal outreach like its Beat the Heat program, which advises residents on indoor cooling practices during heat waves.
Fort Worth residents dealing with unresolved maintenance issues can report violations to the city through the 311 Contact Center at 817-392-1234 or through the MyFW mobile app, according to the City of Fort Worth. Legal Aid of Northwest Texas, located at 600 E. Weatherford St., offers free civil legal assistance to low-income tenants facing landlord disputes through a helpline at 1-888-529-5277.
The situation at The Hayes echoes other Fort Worth habitability complaints Hoodline has covered recently, including trash and mold piling up at a senior housing complex on Calmont Avenue, where code enforcement also cited landlord repair obligations under the same section of the property code. For now, the tenant at The Hayes says she just wants her family's air conditioning restored and some relief from the heat.
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