HOUSTON \u2013 As temperatures soar across Houston, some renters say they are facing the summer heat with little relief \u2014 because their air conditioning systems are not working properly inside their homes.<\/p>\n
Residents at several Houston apartment complexes say their AC units have stopped working or are not cooling their apartments enough to stay comfortable during extreme heat.<\/p>\n
At Independence Hall Apartments, a complex that houses seniors, residents say their air conditioning problems have made it difficult to escape the heat indoors.<\/p>\n
One resident, who did not want to show her face because she feared retaliation, said her apartment does not get enough cool air.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce things heat up during the day, since this heat is like it is now, by the end of the day it\u2019s pretty warm,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She said she also has health issues that make the lack of proper cooling especially concerning.<\/p>\n
At Meyerland at Braeswood Apartments, resident Charity says she has dealt with repeated AC failures while caring for her 2-year-old daughter.<\/p>\n
She said her air conditioner has gone out regularly since March, sometimes leaving her apartment without cooling for days at a time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s gone out to the point where my belongings have started to mold,\u201d Charity said.<\/p>\n
She said the heat has also affected her health.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get sick a lot more often than I usually do. It is just hot in there. Hot, sick, now I\u2019m uncomfortable and sick. It\u2019s a lot,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Charity said she often leaves her apartment to find a cooler place, including spending time at work where air conditioning is available.<\/p>\n
Houston councilmember pushes for more protections<\/p>\n
Houston City Councilmember Alejandra Salinas says thousands of renters are vulnerable during extreme heat when they do not have access to working air conditioning.<\/p>\n
She is calling on landlords to do more and wants changes to city rules that would require air conditioning in all habitable spaces while removing exemptions that allow some properties to operate without it.<\/p>\n
Salinas says working air conditioning should be considered a basic need during Houston\u2019s extreme summer temperatures.<\/p>\n
What renters can do<\/p>\n
For tenants dealing with AC problems, attorneys say there are steps they can take \u2014 but repairs may not happen immediately.<\/p>\n
Jonna Treble, an attorney with Lone Star Legal Aid, says renters should first report the issue in writing and give their landlord a reasonable amount of time to make repairs.<\/p>\n
She said that period is generally considered around seven to 10 days.<\/p>\n
Treble advises tenants to keep records of their complaints and continue paying rent while seeking repairs, though she says renters may eventually need legal assistance or consider moving if problems are not resolved.<\/p>\n
She also recommends tenants know where cooling sensors are located in their homes and look into available resources if they need a cooler place to stay.<\/p>\n
Cooling resources available<\/p>\n
Salinas says her office is committing funds to purchase portable air conditioning units for residents who need them.<\/p>\n
The city has also opened more than 100 cooling centers, and Reliant Energy is working with Houston to distribute 300 additional portable AC units.<\/p>\n
Residents looking for cooling locations or assistance can contact local resources through the City of Houston.<\/p>\n
KPRC reached out to both Independence Hall Apartments and Meyerland at Braeswood Apartments to confirm if plans to fix the air conditioning systems are underway. We have not heard back.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 As temperatures soar across Houston, some renters say they are facing the summer heat with little…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393205,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[3205,56,58,57,49381,3731],"class_list":["post-393204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-heat","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-renters","tag-summer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}