The temperatures have dropped over the last few weeks as winter approaches, so imagine not having heat or hot water. That’s what the tenants at West View Towers in North Bergen tell News 12 they're dealing with. It forced the township to step in with drastic measures.

Eva Daly has lived in the building for 13 years. She says this isn't the first time tenants have been without basic utilities.

“This is ongoing for years. This is what we suffer and they don’t seem to think that’s important that we have water or heat,” Daly says.

In Daly's apartment, pots of water could be seen on the stove ready to be boiled and several space heaters were plugged in throughout the apartment. Daly says this is how she has managed to keep her family as close to comfortable as possible.

According to the tenants of Westview Towers, heat and hot water have been on and off for weeks.

This prompted North Bergen Mayor Nichola Sacco and township commissioners to step in and impose a hefty $2,000 per unit daily fine against Westview Tower Realty Co, LLC, if the problems aren’t fixed.

"They promised us that it would be on by [Wednesday] morning. [Wednesday] morning, they had the heat on and the pipes burst, so we’re going after them now again," Sacco said.

Thomas Kobin is the township's attorney. He said this is the first time an action like this has had to be taken.

"For the days that they were without hot water or heat, they can get a deduction off their rent. So that will compel the owner to get this fixed," Kobin said.

In addition, there was a court action allowing tenants to pay their rent to the court, forcing the landlord to submit an application to the superior court to withdraw those funds. For that to happen, they’d have to prove work had been done.

Just after 5 p.m. on Wednesday, News 12 got word that heat and hot water had been restored. However, in Daly's apartment, the water was still too cool for a hot shower, and one could still feel the chill in one of the bedrooms.

Daly says that’s part of a trend in her building. She says it is riddled with issues, making it hard to live here peacefully.

"You can’t do that because you have to worry about how I’m going to get my granddaughter ready for school tomorrow. Make sure that it’s warm enough. That's not a way to live," Daly said.

West View Towers is 22 stories tall with nearly 300 units. The building is privately owned. This isn’t the first time there’ve been issues with this building, but these are the most drastic measures the town has ever had to take.