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Looking for any thoughts, advice I can get. My initial thought is that my landlord is trying to snake me into paying for utilities that were not clearly defined in my lease but any views from the outside looking in would be greatly appreciated.
So here is the rundown. I live in a condo community in Cherry Hill, NJ. In my lease it states that The tenant shall arrange to transfer accounts to the Tenant’s name and pay for all applicable utilities and services effective with lease commencement. The tenant is responsible for payment of the following utilities and services: hot water, cold water, electricity, heat, ac, gas and sewer.
Tenant is not responsible for the following utilities: association/condo dues and taxes and special assessments.
So basically, I thought it was odd to see sewer listed under tenants responsibility but I just decided not to make much of a stink about it because I liked the place etc. I made numerous phone calls prior to moving in to have services switched over into my name. I was told that I was not able to do sewer, it had to remain with the landlord and when I called to have water switched over, the representitive said that the condos are not metered seperately and therefore usage cannot be determined. I checked with the condo association and they said that they do not charge for water, it is covered in the association dues which I am not responsible for.
Now I am close to a year into the lease and every couple months I get an email from my landlord stating that I owe water. This seems odd based on the info I was given so I just respond by saying okay, please send me over a bill. No one sends anything over. I double check with association, told same thing again, they do not bill individual condos etc.
Finally, landlord starts demanding payment saying that I owe for Camden County Municipal Utility Authority and that he has been paying it and I need to give him the amount he has paid and that I am not owning up to my lease agreement. I state that I have never received a bill and he states that this is paid through the landlord. This was never spelled out in the lease and I feel like it was done intentionally. If by law, I am required to pay, I obviously will but it seems odd that I should have to pay for utilities that are not based off of my personal usage and furthermore cannot put this utility under my name and pay the landlord for this quarterly bill. So, the actual usage is paid by the condo association and there is some sort of second water bill that my landlord receives quarterly.
As a tenant of 10+ years and having lived in many different places, any time I have had to pay water, it was switched into my name and paid accordingly.
The landlord sent over a screenshot of all the bills he has paid but no where does it indicate the word water and instead just has the verbage previously mentioned, CCMUA, the landlords name and address of the condo.
Anyone have any idea what is happening here? Am I in the wrong? Do I have to pay for this? Is something shady here?
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Originally Posted by broadstbu11y
Looking for any thoughts, advice I can get. My initial thought is that my landlord is trying to snake me into paying for utilities that were not clearly defined in my lease but any views from the outside looking in would be greatly appreciated.
So here is the rundown. I live in a condo community in Cherry Hill, NJ. In my lease it states that The tenant shall arrange to transfer accounts to the Tenant’s name and pay for all applicable utilities and services effective with lease commencement. The tenant is responsible for payment of the following utilities and services: hot water, cold water, electricity, heat, ac, gas and sewer.
Tenant is not responsible for the following utilities: association/condo dues and taxes and special assessments.
So basically, I thought it was odd to see sewer listed under tenants responsibility but I just decided not to make much of a stink about it because I liked the place etc. I made numerous phone calls prior to moving in to have services switched over into my name. I was told that I was not able to do sewer, it had to remain with the landlord and when I called to have water switched over, the representitive said that the condos are not metered seperately and therefore usage cannot be determined. I checked with the condo association and they said that they do not charge for water, it is covered in the association dues which I am not responsible for.
Now I am close to a year into the lease and every couple months I get an email from my landlord stating that I owe water. This seems odd based on the info I was given so I just respond by saying okay, please send me over a bill. No one sends anything over. I double check with association, told same thing again, they do not bill individual condos etc.
Finally, landlord starts demanding payment saying that I owe for Camden County Municipal Utility Authority and that he has been paying it and I need to give him the amount he has paid and that I am not owning up to my lease agreement. I state that I have never received a bill and he states that this is paid through the landlord. This was never spelled out in the lease and I feel like it was done intentionally. If by law, I am required to pay, I obviously will but it seems odd that I should have to pay for utilities that are not based off of my personal usage and furthermore cannot put this utility under my name and pay the landlord for this quarterly bill. So, the actual usage is paid by the condo association and there is some sort of second water bill that my landlord receives quarterly.
As a tenant of 10+ years and having lived in many different places, any time I have had to pay water, it was switched into my name and paid accordingly.
The landlord sent over a screenshot of all the bills he has paid but no where does it indicate the word water and instead just has the verbage previously mentioned, CCMUA, the landlords name and address of the condo.
Anyone have any idea what is happening here? Am I in the wrong? Do I have to pay for this? Is something shady here?
Any input or advice would be greatly appreciated.
CCMUA is a flat fee which is charged quarterly. It's not based on usage. A family of 10 pays the same as a single person.
CCMUA is a county based charge (quarterly) for sewage treatment services. This is a flat fee billed to all properties and is above and beyond any local charges for water/sewer services. It is pretty obvious that the landlord used a "form" lease that included things that may not be relevant to the property. However, CCMUA would most likely be seen by a judge as being covered under the "sewer" provision of what you are responsible for. My belief is that you should pay the charges as I don't think you have a case to dispute responsibility. I have a rental property in Camden County and I include CCMUA/sewer charges in the rent amount as they are fixed costs in the town I own the property in and these cannot be placed in the tenants name. If I was to pass through the CCMUA charge, I would expressly list it to avoid this issue, but regardless of how the lease is written/structured, I think you owe the money.
The problem I have is that the my rent has gone up to 1267.90. The landlord is charging me for gas, $33.95;sewer $33.58; trash $6.45; water $29.35. total of charges $69.75. There is listed according to the CODE C which states Credit from property. This either a cap or a subsidy. The charge are Wtr/swr Bill charge is $-17.69;Wtr/swr $-20.25 it seems the property owner gets a break on the these charges. If anyone have any information about this please let me know. thank you
The problem I have is that the my rent has gone up to 1267.90. The landlord is charging me for gas, $33.95;sewer $33.58; trash $6.45; water $29.35. total of charges $69.75. There is listed according to the CODE C which states Credit from property. This either a cap or a subsidy. The charge are Wtr/swr Bill charge is $-17.69;Wtr/swr $-20.25 it seems the property owner gets a break on the these charges. If anyone have any information about this please let me know. thank you
he is charging you for utilities that he isnt being charged for?
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