GREAT BARRINGTON — At Hearthway's Bostwick Gardens, the heat is back on. But then it's not. Or, it's only on in certain rooms.

Dozens of residents at the Main Street senior housing building say they are without heat — or at least consistent heat — as the newer building continues to struggle with HVAC issues.

A complaint filed at Southern Berkshire District Court by Laura Arnold, a resident of Bostwick Gardens, claims that Hearthway had not been providing heat to tenants.

The Eagle reported on a similar issue in January 2024, and residents said they experienced the same problems even earlier.

Hearthway, a non-profit organization that provides affordable housing in the Berkshires, said they're constantly making repairs to the HVAC unit, which has been experiencing problems since late-June.

They attempted to repair the Daikin multi-split type unit late last week, according to a Hearthway representative.

As of 11 a.m. Wednesday, residents say the heat has returned in spurts, with some apartments having heat and others still without any. This outage seems to mostly affect the newly built section of Bostwick Gardens.

Bostwick Gardens is an elderly housing residence. The first 28 units were built in 1987, and an additional 32 units were built in 2019. The new units have struggled with heat, residents said, and its the third time a portion of the building has lost heat.

The Eagle talked to several residents, who spoke on the condition of not being named, about the problems they were facing in the building.

The latest round of HVAC system problems started June 22, according to multiple residents.

They described the thermostats blinking, which indicates the devices aren't working. The problem affected the second and third floors, according to multiple residents.

An email shared with The Eagle confirms that Hearthway was aware of the problem with the air conditioning system as early as June 24. In the email, Hearthway states they ordered the parts and were looking to resolve the issue "early next week."

"When there was a problem in the summer, we offered roll-in portable air conditioning," said Matt Kropke, the director of real estate for Hearthway. "In the winter, we've offered portable heaters. We've also offered hotel stays for any of the residents that needed it."

Residents found this solution inadequate as air conditioning is a part of their rent while electricity is not. Hearthway did offer reimbursements to residents for the extra electricity usage.

During the summer, Edward Ketchie said his third-floor apartment, with a western facing window, grew uncomfortably hot.

"I couldn't get it below 85 degrees all summer," Ketchie said. "Everybody here had to keep their windows and their shades down, closed, and couldn't let any light in to try to block the heat out. So we lived in the dark all summer, just because it was so hot."

After an initial emailed response from Hearthway about the problem in late-June, residents said the lack of air conditioning continued. Two nearly identical memos — which were provided to The Eagle — were taped to doors in the summer. They stated that Hearthway was working on the problem.

"Whenever we hear of a problem, we call the contractor," Kropke said. "They've been out 12 times since mid-June."

The last memo The Eagle received shows that work on the HVAC system would continue on Oct. 1. Residents confirmed technicians were on-site but no cooling or heating returned.

"There's been unlimited problems," Kropke said. "We're making every effort to get this fixed."

Regarding the air conditioning problem, residents are unable to file a lawsuit as landlords are not legally required to provide air conditioning. However, heat is one of the utilities outlined in chapter 186, section 14 of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts law.

So, when the weather turned cold and there was "no" or "minimal" heat, resident Laura Arnold filed a lawsuit against Hearthway for failure to provide utilities.

The judge levied a temporary restraining order against Hearthway during the initial proceedings on Oct. 9, continuing the order Oct. 21 after a hearing. The organization has until Nov. 17 to fix the issues that have plagued Bostiwck Gardens for years.

The temporary restraining order was "to stop not fixing the heat," Kropke said.

But, as of Wednesday, the heat has only returned to random apartments, Ketchie said.

When asked about the cost of repairs, Hearthway said they do not know the amount they've put in, as the parts were warrantied and labor costs have not been determined.

"We've been making every effort to get it fixed," he said. "We kind of decided to order any parts that we possibly think could be a problem for this round and we're trying to get this resolved as quick as we can and make tenants, in the meantime, as comfortable as we can."