Tays Place residents say air conditioners constantly break down

Residents at the Tays Place Housing Authority complex are saying their houses are not being kept cool, with swamp coolers breaking down.

A resident said her unit was repaired the same day she reported it, but others are saying it’s taken longer.

Diana Hernadez told ABC-7 she has a daughter who has problems breathing, but they’ve found ways to get through. “We have fans because we have no other choice, but that’s the only thing, you know. We call the maintenance and there’s the emergency maintenance that you can call, but they still don’t do anything about it.”

Hernadez says when maintnance does show up, she’s told the unit is fine, but she still gets nothing but hot air.

Humberto Olivares, a repairman ABC-7 spoke with, said with the complex having swamp coolers, it shouldn’t be difficult for maintenance to keep them working. “It’s not hard, it’s basically the motor, your pump, and your floater. It takes about maybe two hours,” he said.

Benjamin Guerrero recently helped an elderly lady move into her apartment unit. He said it was a while before the complex fixed her air conditioner. “It seemed the water wasn’t connected, the AC was only pumping hot air, and it took a week to have it repaired,” Guerrero said.

The elderly woman was forced out because of the heat. “The lady was dizzy, and dehydrated, so she was staying somewhere else until her air is fixed,” Guerrero said.

The Housing Authority of El Paso told ABC-7 without a work order, it doesn’t know what needs to be fixed. Once a work order is filled and submitted, any issue should be fixed within 24 hours.

If you need a free fan, you can call 211. The city is helping people out with free fans and getting them in touch with repairmen for their air conditioners.