BATON ROUGE — One Baton Rouge cancer patient says efforts to fix her apartment's air conditioning have failed, and the broken system puts her health at risk, forcing her to move.

60-year-old Stephanie Franklin moved into Sea Holly Grande Apartments in Nov. 2024. She told WBRZ that new management took over at the beginning of the year. Under the management of Rampart Multifamily Management, she says her problems began. The biggest? In April, Franklin reported her air conditioning unit started failing.

"That air conditioning ran perfectly fair until I started complaining," Franklin said.

Franklin said she reported the issues with her apartment unit's cooling system multiple times to the apartment complex's office staff as well as the regional manager for Rampart Multifamily Management. She found that any solutions implemented only worked temporarily, before her apartment grew hot again.

She said that after the apartment property managers failed to fix her A/C problem, she turned to the East Baton Rouge Parish Housing Authority.

Franklin can live at the Sea Holly Grande Apartments through a Housing Choice Voucher, a program through the East Baton Rouge Parish Housing Authority, or EBRPHA. That voucher pays for a portion of her rent.

"I cannot afford this whole rent," she said. "I don't think I should have to sit here, pay my rent and burn up to live here."

When WBRZ visited the unit on Tuesday, the temperature inside the apartment did not dip below 82 degrees Fahrenheit.

WBRZ reached out to EBRPHA, which said it visited Franklin's unit multiple times beginning in May. During a June visit, EBRPHA says Housing Choice Voucher Inspectors conducted a special inspection, which the unit failed.

EBRPHA says it partners with more than 1,200 property owners to help house thousands of families in the capital region, and it follows regulations set by HUD and existing Housing Choice Voucher procedures.

"We hold our property owner partners (and families alike) accountable for the provision and compliance of affordable housing opportunities," a statement from EBRPHA to WBRZ read in part.

The statement added that when Franklin's apartment unit failed inspection, the property managers were given 24 hours to correct the issue. Since the problem with the A/C was not fixed, Franklin's apartment at Sea Holly Grande was taken out of the Housing Choice Voucher Program. Franklin received a new voucher on Tuesday, which can be used at her next home, but cannot be used at her current Sea Holly Grande apartment.

Franklin's future house or apartment must meet Housing Quality Standards set by EBRPHA and HUD for the housing voucher to be used.

"The health and safety of the families we serve is our top priority. EBRPHA will continue to enforce HUD requirements and work to ensure families have access to quality housing," the statement continued.

Franklin said she wished the property managers had just fixed the A/C from the beginning. Along with cancer treatments and packing up her belongings, Franklin also doesn't have a car, so she said she's unsure how she will find a new place to live.

WBRZ visited Rampart Multifamily Management in person, emailed and called to ask about a solution to the broken A/C and has not received a response as of the time of this article.