Retired couple Vere and Oriel Holder have lived at 5070 de Courtrai since 1980. The heating has almost always been a little spotty, but the last few months have been the coldest in memory. 

On Tuesday, the Holder apartment was a chilly 16 degrees Celsius, or about 61 Fahrenheit. Their heater was cold, and the windows were frosted with ice. 

Residents at the 16-unit apartment complex in Côte-des-Neiges say that they are living in freezing apartments with little to no hot water on tap. A call to city officials brought back the heat for about a week, but in the last few days the warmth has disappeared once more.

Many tenants told CJAD that they blame their new landlord, Israel Freundlich, who lives a few blocks away. 

Freundlich, who would not comment on tape, said the central heating was repaired after a breakdown. He also counterered that he is undertaking several updates to the building, including replacing aging windows. 

Student Ronnie Dev lives on the second floor with his ailing mother. He said he sent a registered letter to Freundlich two weeks ago addressing the cold, but has yet to receive a reply. 

"Every apartment you go to in this building has the same thing," said Dev. Efforts to get in touch with the landlord seem "to be not working at all."

All of the residents who spoke to CJAD said they use space heaters to keep warm; it's a fix that nevertheless means they pay twice for heating. 

"When you come home, it's really cold. There's no heating...  I bought two heaters just so we can keep warm," said Corille Edward. "It's been terrible around here."  

The nursing student and mother of two dismissed the explanation that the heating was fixed after breaking down: "That's not my business. I don't care about that, because we need heating. It's winter time. You can't just leave people like that." 

Pictured: Vere Holder at 5070 de Courtrai, their thermostat, and he and his wife Oriel.