Family says landlord didn’t fix air conditioner or fridge for days in heat

CHARLOTTE — The sun was beating down on one of those days around 90 degrees when a local mother says both the air conditioner and refrigerator in her rental home died.

“We lost quite a bit of food,” Julie Lisak said. “We have an infant here. I’ve got breastmilk in the fridge.”

Lisak says the company that owns the house, Main Street Renewal, gave her the runaround and that her family was going on four days without the two appliances.

She turned to social media for suggestions.

“Some random person told me you should try contacting this guy,” she said.

That guy was Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke.

Stoogenke emailed the company at 8:22 a.m. Less than eight hours later, at 3:34 p.m., Lisak messaged Stoogenke good news: someone had fixed the A/C and someone else was coming to replace the refrigerator.

“And he showed up in like 40 minutes with my refrigerator,” she said. “Brand new.”

Main Street Renewal says it does not comment on specific residents’ issues, but that it takes them seriously.

The lessons here:

- Be persistent.

- Don’t forget about renters insurance. Lisak says hers wouldn’t cover this, but some policies do.

- Small claims court is an option.

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