AC not cooling in a rental: handling heat calls
What to ask when a tenant says the AC isn’t cooling, the heat illness signs that make it a 911 call, and the states that name cooling in their laws.
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The first hot week of the year brings a wave of the same call: the AC is running and the apartment is still warm. Most of these are repairs that can be booked for the next business day. A few are health emergencies that happen to start as a maintenance request. The job on the phone is to tell them apart quickly, then book the right visit in the right order.
The questions to ask first
- Is anyone in the home feeling unwell: dizzy, confused, faint, vomiting or with a bad headache?
- Does anyone in the home have a medical condition, or is anyone very young or elderly?
- Is the system running at all, and is air coming out of the vents?
- Is there water leaking near the indoor unit or the furnace?
- What is the thermostat set to, and when was the filter last changed?
The first two questions decide whether this is a health call. The National Weather Service, relaying CDC guidance, lists heavy sweating, weakness, cool and clammy skin, a fast weak pulse, dizziness, nausea or vomiting and fainting as signs of heat exhaustion. It says to seek medical attention if the person vomits or symptoms get worse or last longer than an hour. Heat stroke, with a body temperature above 103°F, confusion or loss of consciousness, is a severe medical emergency: call 911.
Fans are not a fix in extreme heat
A tenant waiting for a technician will often be told to “run a fan”. The National Weather Service warns that using a fan to blow air at someone may actually make them hotter when heat index temperatures are above the high 90s. If the visit can’t happen today and the home is getting dangerously hot, help the tenant find a cooler place to wait, such as a cooled common room in the building or a community cooling space nearby.
What the tenant can check safely
- The thermostat is set to cool and below the room temperature
- The air filter is not visibly clogged, if they can reach it without tools
- Vents and returns are open and not blocked by furniture
Anything past that belongs to a technician. ENERGY STAR’s maintenance checklist explains why. Dirty evaporator and condenser coils reduce a system’s ability to cool. Too much or too little refrigerant makes it less efficient, and checking and adjusting it is a contractor’s job. A plugged condensate drain can cause water damage in the house, which turns a cooling call into a leak call.
Is it an emergency? Check your list and your state
Your written emergency list decides most cases. Some states also name cooling in their landlord-tenant law, which can make a dead AC unit a habitability problem. Here is what the official text says in several of them.
| State | What the law says about cooling | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Supply reasonable air conditioning or cooling where the units are installed and offered, when seasonal weather calls for it | A.R.S. 33-1324(A)(6) |
| Nevada | Where the landlord must supply it, air conditioning is an essential item, with 48 hours after written notice to restore it, not counting weekends and holidays | NRS 118A.380 |
| Arkansas | Working heat and air conditioning where they served the home when the lease was signed | Code 18-17-502(a) |
| Colorado | An air conditioner or cooling device the landlord provides counts as an appliance, and a landlord generally can’t ban a tenant’s portable cooling device | C.R.S. 38-12-502(1), 38-12-505(7) |
| North Carolina | Keep air conditioning facilities in good working order and repair them promptly after written notice | G.S. 42-42(a)(4) |
| New Jersey | A court held that air conditioning that was part of the original tenancy affected habitability when it failed | DCA habitability bulletin |
Oklahoma, North Dakota and West Virginia also require landlords to keep air conditioning facilities in good working order. Colorado adds a heat rule of its own: a landlord that restricts portable cooling devices has to disclose the restrictions in writing and tell tenants whether a cooled common space will be open during extreme heat, or where nearby community cooling spaces are. Check your own state on repair timelines by state.
Book it by urgency
| What the tenant reports | A sensible response |
|---|---|
| Anyone with heat illness signs | 911 first, then your on-call person |
| No cooling, and someone vulnerable in the home during a heat wave | Treat as urgent or an emergency under your list, the same day |
| No cooling, everyone well, and your state names cooling as essential | Book within the state’s clock, which starts at notice |
| Weak cooling, everyone well | Book the next available visit, and check the filter first |
| Water leaking from the indoor unit | Ask the tenant to turn the system off, and book the visit as a leak |
After the repair
- Record what the technician found: filter, coils, refrigerant, drain or a failed part
- Ask the tenant to confirm the home is cooling before you close the work order
- Note the system’s age if the label shows it, so a repeat failure goes to the owner as a replacement question
- Put a spring check-up on the calendar for next year
ENERGY STAR suggests a contractor check the cooling system every spring, before the busy season, and an air filter check every month. A filter change written into your preventive maintenance plan prevents a share of next summer’s calls.
Where Now Ours fits
Ours answers tenant calls and texts at any hour in your company’s name and asks the safety questions you set, such as whether anyone in the home feels unwell. You decide what counts as an emergency, and an emergency calls and texts your on-call person, then your backup after 5 minutes. Everything else is offered to your technicians first, then your vendors, and the tenant is told when to expect a visit. The work order stays open until the tenant confirms the fix, or the vendor or technician marks it done with a photo or note.
Sources
- National Weather Service, Heat cramps, exhaustion, stroke: signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke, when to call 911, and fans at high heat index temperatures. Checked October 21, 2026.
- ENERGY STAR, Maintenance checklist: coils, refrigerant, condensate drain, filters and spring check-ups. Checked October 21, 2026.
- Arizona Revised Statutes 33-1324. Checked October 21, 2026.
- Nevada Revised Statutes chapter 118A. Checked October 21, 2026.
- Arkansas Act 1052 of 2021. Checked October 21, 2026.
- Colorado SB24-094 as enacted. Checked October 21, 2026.
- North Carolina G.S. 42-42. Checked October 21, 2026.
- New Jersey DCA, Habitability bulletin. Checked October 21, 2026.