GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) -- People who live at the New Garden Place Apartments off of McPherson Street face an uphill battle to get the heat turned back on. The city of Greensboro has stepped in, but their options are limited. City code inspectors found 17 violations on the property. They have been in contact with the owner and took civil action against him. The fines continue to rack up and are close to $27,000. “The idea is to try to light the fire under the owner’s feet to try to get them to do the right thing at that time,” said Jarod LaRue, a field supervisor for the Greensboro Office of Code Compliance. Normally once the city steps in, the majority of issues are resolved or at least have progress made within the first 60 days, but that doesn’t always happen. “The really big issue with these ... is these units are occupied, so that is why we can’t move forward. By the same token, we don’t want to say, 'Hey you should just move out,'” LaRue said. The housing stock is low, and affordable housing is even harder to come by, which means the city does not want to pursue further action to deem the property unlivable. “Tenants are afraid of landlords. The community feels abandoned by an ineffective system. We are all operating in fear,” said a community member at the city council meeting on Tuesday night. “This is important ... We have snow coming again this weekend. We need to make sure these tenants do not have to go through another freezing weekend,” another community member said during the meeting. There have been 17 violations at the New Garden Place Apartments. Three of the violations are related to the heat being out in the unit. There are no immediate plans for rule changes, but everyone agrees that there are a number of challenges with affordable housing and something needs to be done. “It is horrible ... and I hate that this may be something that kind of brings the situation to the limelight. Potentially make some changes going forward. Not knowing exactly what those are, but I would hope it is for the betterment of the city as a whole,” LaRue said. FOX8 reached out to the owner of the property and did not hear back. Those fees will continue to pile up until the repairs are made, and the city says officials will take him to court for the civil fines. If you are having issues with maintenance not being completed at your apartment in Greensboro, you can call an inspector at (336) 373-2111.