Here's how Dallas is helping people in need of relief from extreme heat

As temperatures rise, so do desperate pleas for help when air conditioning units break down in Dallas apartment communities.

City inspectors are out troubleshooting the issues.

“If you don’t have air conditioning, there’s no way you can stay in there because this is whoa,” said Dallas resident Reginald Green.

The City of Dallas Code Compliance Department is tasked with responding when residents call in complaints over air conditioning units in multi-tenant properties. The department’s leader invited NBC 5 along for a demonstration of how inspectors respond to A/C complaints.

Inspectors like Amy Del Toro will conduct temperature checks inside affected units, ensuring the temperature inside is at least 15 degrees cooler than the outside temperature and never exceeds 85 degrees indoors.

“If it does exceed that, we find that the property is in violation,” said department supervisor Theopolus Rhodes. “We’ll issue a notice of violation to the property owner.”

Rhodes says property owners and managers typically act quickly, repairing broken down units within 24 hours or providing portable units for each habitable room as is required by the city.

“That means the living room, bedrooms, they all have to supply refrigerated air conditioning,” he said.

Rhodes says they try to be proactive by working closely with property owners, especially of older buildings, urging they stock up on portable units ahead of A/C season.

Del Toro says she took one such call today.

“She didn’t want to give her unit number just for fear of retaliation,” she said. “I had to let her know we’re here to help.”

The city urges apartment tenants whose air conditioning stops working to call 311.

ONLINE: You can also fill out a request for help on the city’s dashboard, here.