2004-01-04

Dear Landlordlady,

Hope you had a good holiday!

We're having a very difficult time in the apartment. It's freezing. We appreciate the space heaters you gave us; however, even though we seal off a room and run only one for an hour or two an evening, our electric bill has almost quadrupled. This is still insufficient heating, and despite sleeping with thermals, sweatshirts, scarves, hats (!) and house coats on, we're very uncomfortable.

I had been under the impression that some form of heating was necessary by law, so I did some research. I've found that landlords are required to provide an adequate heating system that can maintain a 68 degree temperature for 13 hours a day (section 707A of the San Francisco Housing Code). I'm sure space heaters could not accommodate this level of heat in the apartment, especially because of the high ceilings and hardwood.

Landlordlady, we love our apartment and the neighborhood. You seem to be a fair landlord and a good person. We would like to continue living here. I hope you can offer us some sort of solution to this problem.

Thanks so much. We look forward to hearing from you.

Betafrozenbitch