Philly renters sweat in 85-degree apartments as city building codes require heat after Oct. 1

When Tasha Kuronen returned to her apartment Nov. 3 after five days away, she walked into a wall of heat.

The temperature in her second-floor apartment at 2121 Market St. was 85 degrees, which would be uncomfortable even if it were seasonably cooler outside.

Instead, in the midst of a historically long dry spell, with temperatures reaching a record of 80 degrees Wednesday, the environment in her building is suffocating.

“I walked in and was flooded by this wave of heat,” said Kuronen.

2121 Market is owned by PMC Property Group, which did not respond to a request for comment. The building also houses a Trader Joe’s.

Building managers told Kuronen that nothing could be done. They said it’s standard procedure under city law, that on Oct. 1 they turn on the heat and that means they turn the cooling systems off.

Kuronen posted notes in the elevators and hallways asking whether other tenants were having similar experiences. Answers came in a tidal wave of texts, calls, and emails — over 40 in all. Tenants couldn’t sleep or cook, and some families were having to take their uncomfortable kids elsewhere.

“It was a little eerie because after I posted my notes, I would come into the hallways and find other fliers that were like chicken scratched with pen saying, ‘Please help me. The heat is killing me,’” said Kuronen.

The situation shows the challenges that climate change is presenting to the apartment rental market, and the laws that regulate it.

Philadelphia’s code requires that between Oct. 1 and April 30, operators of multifamily dwellings like apartment buildings must provide heating capable of maintaining a room temperature of 68 degrees. The requirement extends to September and May if temperatures fall below 60 degrees in those months. The provision is waived if each unit has its own separate climate control system.

There is a caveat that while the heat must be capable of being turned on in those months, it does not have to be activated unless the outdoor temperature hits 68 degrees or less.

Tenants at 2121 Market St. say the heat is stifling on days like this Halloween, when temperatures hit 82 degrees, but even some evenings when weather is more seasonally appropriate.

“They tell me they are going off this ordinance, but I think it’s a gross misinterpretation of the ordinance,” Kuronen said. “They have to provide equipment that allows a space to be heated to a minimum of 68 degrees. Nobody’s requiring that they’re blasting it so that it’s 85 degrees.”

Other tenants say that the problem is simply that the air-conditioning, which in the warmer months they can control in their rooms, is off despite soaring autumn temperatures.

Many tenants in the building have been dragging their mattresses out of the windowless bedrooms to sleep. The situation has been especially hard on older residents, families with small children, and pet owners.

“For the last maybe two or three weeks, I’ve been sleeping in my living room because our apartments don’t have windows in the bedroom,” said Malique Killing, who has lived at 2121 Market for five years. “I sleep in my living room on the couch, with my windows open.”

PMC offered window units to tenants, but Kuronen fears that will spike utility prices and the solution wouldn’t help those who can’t open their windows or who can’t sleep in their living rooms.

“Maybe it’s a broken or outdated system, but I told management that as global warming is changing the temperatures, it’s their responsibility to make changes to the building, policies, or equipment,” Kuronen said.

As the reality of climate change is increasingly felt, other cities have contemplated changing state and local laws that govern heating in residential buildings. In Chicago in 2022, three elderly women died during a May heat wave because the heating in their building was still on.

In Massachusetts, there has been debate over changing the state law that requires that heat be available in residential buildings between Sept. 15 and June 15. Landlord organizations have argued that the heat availability standard in Massachusetts should be rolled back to the end of May and that air-conditioning should be required for more of the year.

“Given the impacts of global warming and climate change, it’s important to reassess existing regulations to ensure they effectively protect all Philadelphians,” said Steve Chintaman, vice president of government affairs at the Pennsylvania Apartment Association. “The rise in temperatures in recent years is more evident than ever before. PAA is committed to collaborating with local government to review these measures.”

Unsatisfied with PMC’s response so far, Kuronen is seeking outside help. She’s called the Department of Licenses and Inspections, the Better Business Bureau, and an HVAC specialist to see if they can diagnose a particular problem with the building’s heating.

Kuronen would also like to see City Council address building regulations to set a maximum temperature, similar to Massachusetts where building owners are supposed to ensure that temperatures do not exceed 78 degrees.

“There’s no maximum to what they can do, and I just feel like that’s gross negligence on all parts,” said Kuronen.