Columbus, OH · Issue Report

No heat & shut-off utilities in Columbus

The read computed from 1,712 reports · JAN 2025 – JUN 2026

Columbus logged about 1,700 heat and utility reports in the last 18 months. That is about one of every 40 complaints filed with code enforcement. Nearly every one is scored severe or critical. Inspectors treat these as habitability problems, not nuisances. Heat and utility reports spike in deep winter, and December runs about twice the volume of a typical month. No neighborhood is spared, but rates run highest in Wake Robin and Westgate & Hilliard fringe. Reports come from over a thousand different addresses and no block is immune. Check the specific address, not the neighborhood average.

1 in 40
share of all reports
1,712 reports on file
Steady
2026 vs same months 2025
+2% so far this year
December
peak reporting month
about 2.2× a typical month
Renting or buying

Renting or about to?

Tour in cold weather if you can, and ask when the furnace was last serviced. A furnace that fails in January fails when it matters most.

Ask who pays each utility. Some of these reports are shutoffs because a landlord did not pay a master bill, which no thermostat check will reveal.

Check an address on the live map →
Right now

Dealing with it right now?

Heat in an occupied rental is required by code. Report a failure to 311 the day it happens, with the address and how long it has been out.

If your water or power is off because the landlord did not pay a bill they owe, that is a code matter too. Report it and say the shutoff is on the owner’s account.

Owners

Landlord or property manager?

A furnace check before the first cold week prevents the reports that recur most. Master-metered bills are the owner’s to keep current.

When it gets reported

Share of the year's reports landing in each month, corrected for how many times each month appears in the data window.
No heat922 reports
January · 26% of the year's reportsJFebruary · 14% of the year's reportsFMarch · 4% of the year's reportsMApril · 2% of the year's reportsAMay · 1% of the year's reportsMJune · 1% of the year's reportsJJuly · 1% of the year's reportsJAugust · 0% of the year's reportsASeptember · 0% of the year's reportsSOctober · 8% of the year's reportsONovember · 14% of the year's reportsNDecember · 27% of the year's reportsD
Broken AC105 reports
January · 1% of the year's reportsJFebruary · 0% of the year's reportsFMarch · 0% of the year's reportsMApril · 5% of the year's reportsAMay · 4% of the year's reportsMJune · 30% of the year's reportsJJuly · 27% of the year's reportsJAugust · 19% of the year's reportsASeptember · 4% of the year's reportsSOctober · 5% of the year's reportsONovember · 4% of the year's reportsNDecember · 1% of the year's reportsD
Utility shutoffs782 reports
January · 10% of the year's reportsJFebruary · 11% of the year's reportsFMarch · 9% of the year's reportsMApril · 11% of the year's reportsAMay · 6% of the year's reportsMJune · 7% of the year's reportsJJuly · 8% of the year's reportsJAugust · 8% of the year's reportsASeptember · 6% of the year's reportsSOctober · 8% of the year's reportsONovember · 6% of the year's reportsNDecember · 10% of the year's reportsD

No heat reports peak in December. Broken AC reports peak in June. Utility shutoffs reports stay level all year. One blended curve would hide that these problems pull in opposite directions, so each is shown on its own.

All heat and utility reports by month latest month: 59
59 JAN '25 JUN '26

Where it's most reported

Neighborhoods ranked by rate, meaning each category's share of the neighborhood's reports against its citywide share, so big neighborhoods don't win just for being big. Only rates with enough reports behind them are listed.
#1Wake Robin2.5×54 reports #2Westgate & Hilliard fringe2.3×21 reports #3Far East / Eastland2.1×222 reports #4Galloway / Prairie Township2.0×11 reports #5North Linden1.8×120 reports

For contrast, rates run lowest in Far South / Steelton among the busiest areas.

Low Moderate Severe Critical
Open the live map filtered to no heat & shut-off utilities →
Each dot is one report, colored by severity. The live map adds search, filters, and the Block Report.

Often reported with

What else shows up at the same addresses. Address-level comparison, so this reads as a building-quality signal, not a coincidence of one phone call.
Smoke detectors & fire hazardsAddresses with heat and utility reports are about four times as likely to also have fire safety reports on file.→ RoachesAddresses with heat and utility reports are about three times as likely to also have roach reports on file.→ Sewage backupsAddresses with heat and utility reports are about three times as likely to also have sewage reports on file.→ Mold & water damageAddresses with heat and utility reports are about three times as likely to also have mold and water damage reports on file.→

What people describe

The words that come up most in these reports, from the complaint narratives. Counts are reports mentioning each phrase.
heat828 hot water158 furnace116 working165 electricity98 emergency101 since156 bill59

Common questions

How do I report no heat and shut-off utilities in Columbus?

Call 311 the day the heat fails or a utility is shut off. Give the address, what is out, and how long. Say if children, elderly, or medically vulnerable people live there, because that raises the urgency. Report it even if the landlord has promised a fix.

Are heat and utility reports in Columbus going up?

They are steady. So far this year Columbus has logged about the same number of heat and utility reports as the same months last year.

Where are heat and utility reports most common in Columbus?

Rates run highest in Wake Robin, Westgate & Hilliard fringe and Far East / Eastland, comparing each neighborhood's share of reports against the citywide share. No neighborhood is entirely without them.

Who is responsible for fixing no heat and shut-off utilities?

Landlords must keep heat working in occupied Columbus rentals, and utilities they bill or master-meter are theirs to keep on. A shutoff caused by the owner’s unpaid bill is enforceable against the owner.

Looking at a specific address?

Get the full Block Report, covering what's been reported at that exact address, the same building, and chronic neighbors within a third of a mile.

Search an address →
Source & method

What counts here. Reports of no heat, broken air conditioning, or water, hot water, and electricity shut off, whether from a breakdown or an unpaid master bill.

Data comes from official City of Columbus code enforcement records (Accela portal + ArcGIS REST API). Reports are categorized by keyword matching on complaint narratives and city record types, so counts are reports filed, not verified conditions, and automated matching can misfile individual records. The data window covers JAN 2025 – JUN 2026, so month-of-year patterns will sharpen as full years accrue.