HILLSBORO, Ore. (KOIN) — Step inside one of Reach Property’s 3 apartments in Hillsboro and you’ll feel the heat. A KOIN 6 News crew on Monday noted the temperature at one of the buildings at the Orchards at Orenco was nearly 90 degrees.
During the heat wave last week, tenants told KOIN 6 News hot air was coming through their vents, pushing the temp to nearly 100.
“This is not just during a heat wave. This has been 6 years — winter, summer, spring, fall,” said Michael Mascaro, who has lived at the subsidized housing complex since 2015. Even in the winter, he said, tenants have to open windows to cool their rooms down.
Medical issues make him even more sensitive to heat, he said.
“It was just erratic temperatures,” he said. “You could go to bed and it was producing 68 degrees, which is in the specific range. Wake up at midnight and it would be producing 80-90 degrees.”
Mascaro said he’s spent years and countless emails trying to get Reach Property Management to fix it.
“We send emails with documentation, often with no response,” he told KOIN 6 News. “They say, ‘We’re working on it, we’re working on it.’ And nothing ever happens.”
Pamplin Media, news partners with KOIN 6 News, first reported on maintenance and malfunctioning issues at these apartments in 2017.
According to recently filed court documents, Mascaro is suing Reach Property Management, claiming tenants have repeatedly complained the HVAC system at Orchards at Orenco Apartments was not being maintained.
His attorney, Emily Templeton at the Underdog Law Office, said they are familiar with Reach Property Management.
“My first reaction was, how has somebody not died yet?” she said, adding this is their third lawsuit against Reach.
“If they haven’t gotten the clue, we’re going to keep filing.”
Mascaro’s hope is that with the help of the Underdog lawyers Reach Property managers will fix the HVAC system once and for all.
“I just want to see a happy, healthy, safe place to live,” Mascaro said. “I’m concerned someone is not going to wake up.”
KOIN 6 News asked Reach Community Development for a comment, and officials said they needed more time to review the lawsuit before commenting.
KOIN 6 News will continue to follow this story.