MEMPHIS, Tenn. — In the latest issues surrounding Serenity Towers, WREG has learned that 140 residents are without heat.

Inspectors turned the heat on Tuesday morning but it could take 72 hours to kick in.

“When you fix one thing, something else breaks,” city attorney Carlissa Shaw said. “That’s why the city has now changed its position. We don’t think that it’s safe for people to stay there.”

In addition to heat issues, an MLGW cutoff notice is set for Wednesday.

Special Master Marcus Ward said MLGW’s policy for below-freezing temperatures buys the court time to come up with a solution.

“That means that based on our forecast there won’t be any disconnections if it’s not paid for, at least through this week,” Ward said.

With issues like heat, power and damage, this means more and more expenses adding up.

Though Memphis now has site control, Judge Patrick Dandridge said they need residents’ rent money to even start maintenance.

“HUD has reassured us if there’s a court order that reassigned the dollars, they have dollars to the city that they would honor that court order,” Shaw said.

Judge Dandridge shared Tuesday that he thinks this may now be a federal matter, possibly involving a federal court – meaning this is case is far from over.