Is this legal? (apartment complex, lease agreement, rental, finance)

[aamazing75]

I live in a fairly large apartment complex. When I first moved into my apartment in September, the water was individually metered per apartment, and I paid for the water I used. A few months ago the leasing office gave us a letter saying that the meters are getting old & instead of paying for new ones, they were just going to take the water bill from the entire complex as a whole, break it down by # of apts, and the number of people living in each apt, and we would be billed that way. Since then, the last 2 bills I received are almost double what I used to pay when it was metered for just my apt. The thing that REALLY P*SSES ME OFF is that there is no breakdown of the bill to represent where they get the amount from. It just says we owe X amount. IS THIS LEGAL? Aren't I entitled to a detailed accounting of this bill?

[elgusano]

I would think that if nothing else that they would have to stick to the lease agreement for the length of the lease.

[ShaneSA]

If your lease states that you pay water by the meter, they cannot bill you without an accounting with a meter. I would let them know to stick to the lease agreement and you will move when your lease is over.
Check the laws in your state to see what remedies are available to you, like JP court in Texas. You can do it yourself or hire a lawyer, but wave the lease at them first.

[eagle7]

It sounds fishy to me.I dont believe they can legally do that.That is totally unfair & wrong.Check with your city mgr & local water company.DONT let them get away with this.

[aamazing75]

Thanks guys, yeah, it sounds rather fishy to me as well.............

[Ultrarunner]

I'm not a lawyer... but it sounds like a good reason to break your lease.

Neither party can change the terms of the Rental Agreement during the lease term unless both parties agree...

At the very least, I would not pay more for water due to management's new accounting practice.

[hnsq]

My water is currently a % of the total building's water usage, but it said that in my lease when I signed it. They have to stick to the lease. You can definately break you lease with this if they stick to this.

[himain]

That's a bunch of bs because if you use barely any water but joe schmoe takes 10 showers a day, you have to pay for his usage??? Tell them to pound sand..

[honu1]

I've lived in places that did the breaking down by X number of units. Of course there was some multiplier/scale that differed depending on if it was a one bedroom, two bedroom, three bedroom, etc. The bill is also usually higher because they also include in the initial figure the watering for the lawn, water for pools, etc. Of course, when I rented from places that did this, it was disclosed at the outset of the lease. I would think that they'd need to have a new agreement signed by you to change the policy...but I'm not a legal expert in this.

[VegasGrace]

Agreed, they can't require that. They can ask, right? But you have the right to say no.

I'd just show them your water bills for the past so many months and agree to pay the average.

That's fair. They won't hate you or anything.

They legally can't change or alter the lease agreement without your consent when it comes to matters of finance.