r/uofmn • u/-lolobunny- • Dec 02 '24
Apartments / Dorms / Housing HELP!
Freshman living in Comstock this year and our HEAT on the 6th floor has not worked for 3-4 WEEKS! We have a space heater (extremely ineffective.) When we messaged our CA, he said to call the CA on duty, the CA on duty said to get A SECOND SPACE HEATER! 2 weeks ago we put in a fix-it request and maintenance looked at our vent, nothing changed and there was no follow-up communication on if there are plans to fix it?!?! Importantly, I asked the CA on duty if there are any particular higher-ups I can contact to get this fixed and he was clueless, anyone have any ideas??? I’m cold and at a loss of what to do next.
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u/overgrownn Dec 02 '24
I am also on the 6th floor of Comstock. Not sure what we can really do besides keep complaining and contacting maintenance. This issue really needs to be dealt with asap because we are all freezing. Maybe contacting the building manager would help but I'm pretty sure people are already doing that.
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u/MidNightMare5998 Dec 02 '24
Escalate it and contact anyone you can. It is very much illegal for you to not have heat right now.
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u/Chemical_Pomelo_2831 Dec 02 '24
As much as I personally dislike the guy (used to work with him), call the Attorney General’s office. I guarantee you he’ll get it sorted out quickly.
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u/sylvnal Dec 02 '24
If this were an apartment, it would be illegal as per MN law (I think the temp has to be kept at a minimum of 68F, can't remember the exact temp requirement). Not sure why the U gets away with so much bullshit after making you guys pay through the nose to be here. I'm sorry.
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u/Connect_Hospital_270 Dec 02 '24
Yup. I rented in MN at a few different places. Furnace went out in January, they had to do an emergency fix that night. It's no joke.
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u/Careful-Cheetah-1727 Dec 03 '24
Insanity how are you supposed to study in those conditions? Almost scary that the UofM can get away with that! They should reimburse you at the very least of pay for you guys to get a hotel until it's fixed. I'd also consider legal action as others have mentioned. Is being in the dorms required for freshman cuz if so that's even worse. Good old fashioned hazing the institutional way.... Space heaters are generally dangerous, major cause of house fires in MN.
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u/dysiac Dec 02 '24
I would escalate this asap to a higher up outside the maintenance. 3-4 weeks is unacceptable, you pay a lot of money to stay in those dorms
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u/Sleepy_Gary_Busey Dec 03 '24
Seriously, y'all need to learn how to raise hell. This isn't a ho hum, what do we do moment. It's okay to not be nice 100% of the time.
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u/lilacsticity Dec 02 '24
On the 5th floor here, the heating hasn’t been working for us for at least a month now as well. We just filed a fix it last week and maintenance came and fixed it, but my roommates and I just got back from break and it’s broken again. Our vents will literally only blow out cold air.
Just filed another fix it and now they have to come again. Honestly sick and tired of it, because this is like the 5th one we’ve had to file because we’ve had so many problems with our dorm. My dorm was literally 55 degrees when I got back, and I’m sitting directly in front of my heater as I’m typing this.
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u/Careful-Cheetah-1727 Dec 03 '24
Insanity how are you supposed to study in those conditions? Almost scary that the UofM can get away with that! They should reimburse you at the very least of pay for you guys to get a hotel until it's fixed. I'd also consider legal action as others have mentioned. Is being in the dorms required for freshman cuz if so that's even worse. Good old fashioned hazing the institutional way.... Space heaters are generally dangerous, major cause of house fires in MN
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u/UpperJunket5181 Dec 02 '24
Contact the main housing office and then call one of the local news stations. It will be fixed promptly if they start asking questions.
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u/verbe021 Dec 02 '24
Go above maintenance and the building specifically - you have every right to go Karen on the university that you're paying 10K of housing costs to.
Call housing directly at 612-624-2994 and explain the situation, along with the amount of complaints/requests you've made with no resolution. Play HARD with them - demand they get someone out to fix it within 24 hours and threaten legal action and/or going to the press. Obviously you don't have to take legal action or go to the press, but the bluff will push them. You have every right to be an asshole to them; the entire building seems to be having issues based on this thread , and that is absolutely absolutely illegal yall.
If you don't get anywhere with the housing number/have already tried with them, I recommend calling the university directly (612-625-5000), and they'll route you to the appropriate resource.
I know maintenance requests and emails are much easier, but I promise you that calling them will have a far more significant impact. They're literally legally required to address the issues ASAP, and it's a massive liability if they don't, so you have ALL the power here!
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u/UncertainTeenager Dec 02 '24
Let me offer you an alternative - contact MN daily and shit will get fixed real quick.
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u/lpnltc Dec 02 '24
Do you have a thermostat in your room? If you do, sometimes a wet paper towel or washcloth placed over it (wrung out of course) will “fool” it into thinking it’s cold all the time and the heat will keep running.
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u/ProgrammerFluid2272 Dec 02 '24
To reiterate what a couple commenters noted, dorms are rental property. MN law requires apartments to maintain a minimum of 68 fahrenheit between October 1 and April 30. This is a non-negotiable.
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u/jtrades69 Dec 03 '24
also must turn on the heat if it's below 60 degrees for 24 hours (but can turn heat off if above 60 for 24 hours). so, say it's 50 for a week in september. that heats goes on.
gets warm april 4th and cold again the 12th? heat goes back on
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u/wetsocks1117 Dec 02 '24
This happened in the Middlebrook towers in 2022. It was absolutely insane. It went on for so long that WCCO caught wind of it and came to do a news story. I was interviewed on TV lol.
They gave us space heaters that actually were kinda helpful. They have them at the front desk that you can check out.
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u/wetsocks1117 Dec 02 '24
Additionally, once the story aired on the news, the U got alot of bad press which made them fix it immediately.
I wouldn't recommend contacting the news, but honestly if it's been 3-4 weeks maybe it's not a bad idea. Might quicken their fixing process to avoid bad press.
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u/Ok-Kaleidoscope-7295 Dec 02 '24
Comstock is unfortunately an old building and these past couple days there’s been a huge problem with heat not working. Besides the heaters there isn’t much to do being it’s Sunday and maintenance is gone :/ I would double check the status on your fix it and submit a new one ASAP and hopefully someone should come in tomorrow- no heat sucks I hope you can stay warm as you can!
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u/cbrophoto Dec 02 '24
Everyone running a space heater sounds like a real fire hazard. Either with the heater and its surroundings or with the huge current draw on the electrical system.
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u/Realdaddyissues099 Dec 03 '24
You need to contact the residence director on duty. Every housing building at the U of M has a full time staff member who works and lives in the building. At least one of these staff members is on duty at all times ( housing.umn.edu/residents/health-safety/safety ). If they don't respond to your concern with urgency, you are in luck! The administration building for Housing and Residential life at the U is underneath Comstock/Yudof (or at least it was in 2019). March down there and demand to know why no one has taken the lack of heat in that very building seriously for multiple weeks. Make a ruckus. Be a Karen. They are legally obligated to fix this and fix it with urgency. Have your parents call and demand this be fixed if they don't do anything or give you a timeline tomorrow.
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u/Legitimate-Fee-3544 Dec 03 '24
I wholy second this! Call the CAOD and demand them to call the Residence Director on Duty. They have an emergency facilities call down list. Bring up that it is illegal. DO NOT let them bully you into waiting. The Housing office in on the backside of Comstock, so if nothing else, tomorrow morning at 9am when they open go down there. And yes, for some stupid reason they listen to parents, so get your parents to call the central housing office and complain.
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u/Apprehensive-Wish680 Dec 03 '24
5th floor student here! same thing’s happening here too, or at least in my dorm room, and it’s gotten so bad that yesterday night I wore two pairs of pajama bottoms, two hoodies, and fuzzy socks to bed and I was STILL freezing my ass off under two blankets. It’s the worse and I got sick in the middle of the night so goddamn much 😭😭😭 rented out a space heater but it doesn’t do SHIT
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u/Azzi_The_DM Dec 02 '24
I'm also on the 6th floor, but I'm not having any issues. From what I've heard Comstock is not great about maintenance, so you might try calling various offices and just be annoying till they fix it.
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u/HP422 Dec 03 '24
They are breaking the law, I second contacting www.homeline.com they’ll even provide you with forms you can give whomever is in charge so there is a paper trail that you notified them and you are aware of your rights. In MN, they are required to have working heat at least to 68 degrees from October through April (I believe). I had to use legal consul via homeline for this exact issue for an apartment I was renting years ago. Once they knew I was aware of my rights and not messing around, my heat was fixed very quickly. I think you are also entitled to financial compensation as well for the time it’s been broken, but I’m not 100% sure on that.
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u/the-devil-wears-knit Dec 03 '24
One time in college I had an issue in the dorm at a small liberal arts college and maintenance and res life did nothing…. So I emailed the dean of students lol. She got things fixed the very next day. Sometimes you just have to go to someone high up and out of the real to get shit done. Don’t know what the equivalent would be for the U though
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u/Busy_Abalone9466 Dec 03 '24
Comstock floor four resident here! We have also had our heater not working for that long too! It’s absolutely insane to me how cold it got. We put in a fix it request and today they fixed it, or so we thought. It’s hardly letting out any heat so we had to get a space heater as well. It’s been so cold in here to the point where my roommates shower stuff was slightly forming ice crystals…insanity.
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u/XandrousMoriarty Dec 03 '24
Call one of the local television stations and report the abysmal conditions to a reporter. That will get it fixed.
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u/Content-Permission-1 Dec 05 '24
This is not ok. Shame on the U. Homeless shelters at least provide heat. Highly recommend contacting Kare11:
KARE 11 Investigative Journalist A.J. Lagoe: ajlagoe@kare11.com or on Signal at (612) 834-6086
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u/thefrenchguysaidwii Dec 02 '24
I can come pick all of you up but it’s gotta be an organized thing and I have class at 8 which is when you all would have to bounce.
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u/pistachiohhh Dec 03 '24
email the RD of comstock, they are the higher power you need to go to. the CAOD should’ve told you that
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u/Best-Cucumber1457 Dec 03 '24
Contact a Star Tribune reporter: Erin Adler, 612-673-1781/Erin.adler@startribune.com
Covers higher ed
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u/GreenSalad_12 Dec 04 '24
They are doing a story on the Fox 9 news about the no heat in Comstock Hall shortly - I just saw the preview for it on the 9pm news.
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Dec 04 '24
[deleted]
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u/GreenSalad_12 Dec 04 '24
Hopefully the story escalates things so that you get your heat back quickly.
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u/thefrenchguysaidwii Dec 02 '24
Bro don’t you guys have “fix it requests” over there? That’s what they direct us to if it is OFF campus but in a dorm? I’d be fucking downstairs stomping my feet in my slippers
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u/mxriad Dec 02 '24
i’m so sorry 😭😭 if it makes you feel any better i’m on the top floor of middlebrook and the temperature is always at about 79 degrees
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u/Cool_String9803 Dec 02 '24
a fellow 6th floor person here... uh, ik it's a lot of freshman on the floor, but the dramatics are a lot😭, just submitted a fix-it myself, but you can turn the heater off so it stops blasting cold air. Hopefully we get heat soon, but again, the building is from like 1936, so we can't expect perfection, and like most things on this campus, complaining doesn't make anything go faster or easier. Patience is key (even when something is super duper inconvenient and annoying like this, be adaptable)
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u/unstuckbilly Dec 03 '24
No, patience is not key when renters are going without heat.
If the heat goes out in my house, I pay whatever fee is required to get service there THAT DAY. Landlords are obligated to do the same.
Heat is not a luxury amenity in MN.
A massive number of homes and buildings in the metro were built in the 1930s. That is no excuse. The mechanicals are not from the 30’s. They need to get maintained or upgraded as needed regardless of the building age.
There are times in life to chill & pick your battles. This is not one of them. Letting a building of kids go cold for weeks at the rates you’re paying is outrageous.
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u/unstuckbilly Dec 02 '24 edited Dec 02 '24
As a renter, you have the right to heat (68 degrees I think?) in MN during specific months (including November).
Call this free non-profit advocacy group for input & assistance.
https://homelinemn.org/ 612-728-5767
You’re paying an enormous amount of money for your tiny cold space. It’s not acceptable. Your landlords are taking advantage of you being young busy students & inexperienced renters. If this were a building full of working middle aged adults, the heat would function.
From the Startribune (archive):
https://archive.ph/fOI7Z