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Old dispute with previous property manager over water bill resurfacing after moving

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MLLS2015

Junior Member
NC

When i first moved into my previous condo place, they advertised it as water included and told me i didn't have to pay for water separately, but this may change. At the time,water was being billed to the HOA by building off of master meters and the owners paid through their HOA fee.They put a clause in my lease saying when separate meters were installed, then i would have to switch a water account into my name. This never happened. 5 months into my lease i get a call saying an overdue bill has arrived at the office for me, and if i don't pay it my water will be shut off. I am confused because no one had informed me the water had been switched over to individual accounts. After further investigating, The bill is in the landlords name. The HOA contracted a 3rd party billing company to divvy up the bill from the master water meter and calculate how much each owner owed. No separate meters were installed. the billing company informs me that they only forward the bill to the tenant but the account is actually in the owners name.


I told the manager this was not what we agreed to at move in. I showed them the clause about separate meter's being installed, and that this had not happened. She told me my lease was "worded incorrectly" and it is supposed to say "separate accounts" not separate meters. Again i say this isn't what i agreed to nor what the lease says, if you want to amend it, i am more than willing to. She refused to work out an agreement and said she will file to evict me if i didn't switch the account in my name by the end of the day. I said no, good luck with that, I will continue to operate by my current lease terms. (this was through email)

Months later and no eviction, i find out she called the company and had them start forwarding the bills to my address. The account was still in the owners name however. I contact the company asking for them to stop forwarding me the bills, but they refuse and say the only person who can make that change is the property manager. I again contact the manager saying i do not feel i am responsible for the bill as per the terms of my lease and will continue to operate by those terms, she doesn't respond.

I finish my lease term, pay my rent, and move out with no other incidents or eviction. I receive my deposit back within the 60 day time limit with no more mention of water bill, thinking the issue was resolved and she let it go... until yesterday. 7 months later they had the same 3rd party billing company forward me a bill for $500 to my new address. There's no itemized summary of costs and no telling what is what. I never felt I was contractually responsible for the bill, and it is well beyond the 90 day period courts allow for grievances. if they have returned my deposit and allowed that time period to expire, haven't they waived their right to even ask for payment? if not what can/should i do?

what can i do to resolve this ongoing issue once and for all?
 


FarmerJ

Senior Member
YOU havent thrown away your copy of the lease have you ? ( as long as your lease or anything else you signed does not grant the HOA the ability to bill you directly or require you to pay any part of the so called dues ) Hopefully you have not discarded it and if you did not then one choice can be that if you pay it then you must sue your former landlord to get it back and there is no promise that you will get it even if you win in small claims court since collecting it from your former landlord in itself could be a problem. SO another choice is send to them a certified letter and in the letter include a copy of your old lease ( with your social whited out if its on that lease ) and tell them that this bill should be in your former landlords name and if they feel other wise then you expect them to be able to prove to a court that this debt is yours. ( I don't see any thing else you can do but then again one of the others who post here may have a suggestion)
 

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