Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 9, 1993 TAG: 9311090219
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
All through last winter, the only source of heat in their small Roanoke apartment had been the four burners of a gas stove turned on high and an opened toaster oven - a luxury they usually reserved for the nights.
"But when we had that big blizzard come in March, we had to use it night and day," Herron testified Monday. "You could still feel the cold air coming in."
After hearing Herron's testimony, a judge in Roanoke Circuit Court ruled that landlord Richard Firebaugh had violated Virginia's landlord-tenant act by failing to provide heat to the couple's Day Avenue Southwest apartment.
Herron and Kelly are seeking $2,000 in back rent and damages, but Judge Diane Strickland delayed a ruling on the amount of their award.
"In terms of monetary damages, we're not seeking a whole lot," said the couple's attorney, David Beidler of the Legal Aid Society of the Roanoke Valley.
"But in terms of putting this landlord on notice, we are asking a lot."
Beidler said it was the only case he can recall in his nine years of practice in which a landlord had failed to provide such a basic necessity. "It's pretty rare that you find an apartment without any source of heat," he said.
Firebaugh testified that the home's lack of heat should have been obvious when Herron and Kelly accepted an oral lease last November at $185 a month.
"I just showed them what I had and what the price was," he said. Firebaugh said he offered to provide an electric space heater if the couple needed one - a claim Herron denied.
Beidler argued that Firebaugh could easily have made improvements, with rent coming in from the six other apartments at 346 Day Ave. S.W.
"He had the money; he just didn't want to spend it to make repairs," Beidler said.
Firebaugh disputed Beidler's assertions about his income, pointing out that many tenants of low-rent housing move out overnight without paying the rent.
David Nixon, a Roanoke lawyer representing Firebaugh, said the case "highlights the tension we have in society between providing adequate housing and providing affordable housing."
Herron testified that she and Kelly asked Firebaugh on several occasions to install heating in their two-room basement apartment, but to no avail.
And when they complained about it to the Health Department, she said, they ended up temporarily homeless.
A city building inspector, tipped off by officials at the Health Department, inspected the apartment and found many building code violations - which Firebaugh said he had not been aware of.
In addition to lacking heat, the apartment was deemed a fire hazard because the only way out was a single door - right next to the stove that Herron and Kelly kept burning every night.
City officials condemned the apartment. Soon afterward, Herron testified, she was sick in bed on a cold, rainy day when Firebaugh knocked on the door.
"He started yelling and screaming about us getting out," she testified.
Two hours later, Herron and Kelly had packed all their belongings into their van. With nowhere to go, they spent several nights in a homeless shelter.
The eviction "totally uprooted them," Beidler said, arguing they were entitled to damages for suffering.
After sleeping in low-budget motels and the back of their van, the couple finally found a place in Christiansburg.
by CNB