(ABC 6 News) – Imagine having to go up six flights of stairs just to get to up to your home. Well, some residents of The Lofts at Lea Center have had do that the past couple weeks and they are not sure how much longer they will have to do it.

“I pass some of [the other residents] on the stairs and they are struggling just with one flight of stairs and it’s a six-story building,” said resident Tara Simmons.

Residents of the loft apartments in the albert lea have been getting their steps in the past few weeks after the building’s elevator broke down.

According to the management company, “the elevator is temporarily stuck between floors and cannot be properly repaired without specific parts. These parts were ordered to remedy the situation as soon as we knew what would be required to make the repairs.”

But residents like Simmons say there are many elderly people who live in the building and management’s response simply isn’t good enough.

“I know there’s one lady who lives on my floor who is has a tough time that has trouble getting to and from her apartment,” said Simmons.

And until the elevator that these tenants rely on is fixed, Simmons says she and the other residents deserve some compensation.

“I can understand those kinds of things happen, but I guess then I would expect them to kinda give a discount in rent then. I don’t think I should have to pay the same amount of rent that I’ve been paying the last couple of months when this month I haven’t had elevator service for three weeks,” said Simmons.

According to the management company, the part has arrived and crews were onsite fixing the elevator Monday with the hopes of it being completed by the end of the week. But no definitive “fix date” has been set.

In the meantime, the management company says people have been checking in with residents to make sure they are ok and other resident have been helping out by grabbing mail and groceries for those who can’t get around as well.