SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) -- Imagine paying hundreds of dollars in rent and utilities every month and still living in a cold apartment with cold water in the dead of winter, for over a month now.

This is the reality for at least one resident who lives in the Chateau Apartments on Temple Street in Springfield, which is home to 65 units.

Between reaching out to the property manager to calling the city itself, one resident says they have done everything they could to make their voices heard.

Amanda Alonzo, who has lived at the apartment complex for eight years now, says she’s taking extreme measures to keep her two young children warm at night.

“The stove. Sometimes I have to turn it on or I would have to turn on the blow dryer just to keep the house warm...Or at night, keep the kids in my bed so I can put the blow dryer underneath the blanket just to warm them up a little bit,” she tells us.

When we visited the complex Monday morning, the temperature was hovering around 60 degrees, which, according to Alonzo, was warm for her apartment, but would still fall below state guidelines.

Code Enforcement confirmed that the Tunic Group, who manages the property based out of New Jersey, did replace the boiler after initial complaints came in about the water temperature in the building about a month ago.

However, according to Code Enforcement, the people installing the boiler were not licensed in Massachusetts.

We have reached out to the Tunic Group, but we have yet to hear back from them.

On Western Mass News @ 6, we’re getting answers on what the state encourages tenants to do when facing cold conditions in their rental properties.

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