Message to residents: Use your air conditioner and you'll be fined

Letters are being sent out to a neighborhood in Auburn warning of fines if residents don't remove air conditioners from their windows.

Ten letters from the Lakeland Homeowners Association Board of Directors have been sent out to residents that warn of fines of $30 a day for not removing window air conditioners.
 
"Right now it's just a matter of survival. It's getting through this heat wave," said Amy Cole, who received a letter because she had the AC unit in her window.
 
"We just need to stay cool to get through this. So I was just disgusted that they don't care about the well-being of people," added Cole.
 
Having a window AC unit violates the Homeowners Association's "community rules & regulations," according to the letter. Click here to read the full Lakeland letter.
 
Kerri Fulks is a spokesperson for Lakeland Homeowners Association.
 
"I understand that it's hot, but there are other units they could purchase that would not be in violation," said Fulks, though when asked over the phone, she couldn't name one.
 
"We absolutely want them to stay cool," said Fulks.
 
But, she said, there are no exceptions to the bylaws, which have existed since the neighborhood formed in 1993.
 
This June was the hottest June on record at Sea-Tac International Airport, and the hot weather is expected to continue all next week.
 
"Failure to remedy the deficiency could result in the suspension of voting rights, legal action, and possibly a lien against your property," the letter states.
 
Russ Miller lives in the neighborhood.

"I'm just really disappointed, and basically appalled,” said Miller.

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