The heat in two of the three buildings at the Enclave Apartments on Oak Leaf Drive in Silver Spring has been going on and off since Jan. 24, leaving many tenants cold and frustrated.
“Overall, the heat and hot water have been off and on,” said Tonia Chestnut, president of the Enclave Tenant Association. “I have portable heaters, thank God,” she said, adding, “We actually had no heat. It was just blowing out cold air.”
The complex has distributed portable heaters to Chestnut and other residents, but she has not plugged hers in. A friend in another building used the portable heater she was given, and “it blew out everything.”
MCM has not yet been able to speak with someone from the management office.
Councilmember Kristin Mink is working to help residents and said on Thursday evening, “It seems to be working for the time being at least. It’s been going off and on.”
Officials from the Montgomery County Department of Housing and Community Affairs went twice to check on the heat, Mink said. But before they arrived, “The Enclave got maintenance there to fix it just before the inspectors arrived, so the county has not been able to cite them.”
The inspectors went at around 1 a.m. Sunday following a request by County Executive Marc Elrich, Mink said. When the inspectors arrived, maintenance “got the boilers on just before,” she said.
This apartment complex has been cited by the county in the past.
In March of 2024, tenants held a rally to bring attention to the number of cockroaches, often not-working elevators and fire alarms, broken laundry machines and homeless people living in the hallways.
At that time, the newly formed Enclave Tenant Association members joined other renters in the pouring rain, carrying signs and chanting “sick and tired.”
Two days ago, Mink posted about the heating issue on her Facebook page. “It is midnight. It is 15 degrees outside.” Accompanying photos showing the temperature hovering below 63 degrees, Mink wrote, “These are temperature readings at heaters cranked all the way up at the Enclave Apartments in Silver Spring. They are blowing cold air.”
She added, “Like Enclave residents, I have been told by management multiple times that it was being fixed or had been fixed.”
The two effected buildings are 20 stories with 360 apartments each.
Through it all, residents must keep paying their rent and utility bills and won’t receive a refund, said Chestnut, who lives in her apartment with her 74-year-old mother. To keep warm, “I was lying on my heating pad.”
She was told the boiler wasn’t working and that maintenance was working on it. “This is not unusual. The apartment always has something to fix.”
She knows other tenants have gone to a friend’s house to stay warm. “It was just too cold for them,” she said. “It’s just unfortunate.”
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