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Resident says repeated heating failures have left Sage Modern units without reliable heat
Summary
Heather Lang told the Tenant‑Landlord Commission that her Sage Modern apartment has suffered repeated HVAC failures since 2024, including a 26‑day outage in Dec. 2025–Jan. 2026 and intermittent failures approaching 60 days; she urged Arlington to review plan approvals and enforcement options and reported problems with third‑party billing.
Heather Lang, a resident of Sage Modern Apartments at 480 11th Street South in Arlington, told the Tenant‑Landlord Commission on April 8 that her unit and others at the building have experienced repeated HVAC system failures since February 2024.
"We are now approaching a 60 day period without reliable heating or cooling," Lang said, describing a 26‑day outage between December 2025 and January 2026 when outdoor temperatures dropped to about 18°F with a real-feel near 2°F. Lang said management attributed recent failures to a power outage that damaged made‑to‑order circuit boards and that outages have affected varying subsets of floors and sections of the building.
Lang also raised billing concerns tied to the building's third‑party utility billing vendor, ConService, saying she personally flagged an overcharge of about $1,300. She said she has reported outages to Arlington code enforcement and has received inspector follow‑up, but that management's direct responses typically lag several days.
Commissioners and a property manager who joined the exchange asked whether outages covered the whole building or only certain units; Lang said the subset changes depending on the failure and confirmed she has tried to keep written records of maintenance requests. Commissioners said staff will follow up with code enforcement and the property to clarify corrective timelines and tenant protections.
Lang told the commission that management has not proactively offered monetary compensation and had suggested rental insurance as the tenants' remedy for relocation expenses; code staff and a property manager advised documenting communications and using the property's emergency contacts when conditions make a unit uninhabitable.
The commission did not take formal action during the meeting but instructed staff to follow up with code enforcement and the property manager to determine next steps and any enforcement options the county can use to ensure timely repairs.
