Recently my water bill almost doubled, which I initially assumed (like so many other residents I have talked to about this) the reasoning was due in part to higher water usage during the summer months. On closer review of my bill, I noticed it was due to the increase in cost per unit. When we questioned the apartment management staff concerning this, their initial response was the City of Henderson raised their rates. We contacted the City of Henderson and they told us they had not raised their rates in years. When we presented this information to the management team, they immediately retracted their previous comments (because they were caught in a lie), and told us THEY increased our rates. They said they were paying a portion of our water bill and their corporate office decided to no longer do this, which is why our water bill almost doubled. This immediately seemed very shady to me so I asked them where the water meter for my apartment was located. They gave me another song and dance about how they weren’t sure and would have to get back to me. I called the City of Henderson once again and asked them where my water meter was located for my apartment. The employee who assisted me informed me that, like 99% of the apartment complexes in Las Vegas, there was only a master meter that the apartment complex was billed for, which is why most apartments in Las Vegas paid the water because they have no way of individually billing each unit’s water usage. If this is the case, then how are they able to accurately assess my water usage for my unit? What gives them the authority to bill me without providing me an accurate and honest breakdown of my utility usage? Also, what gives them the authority to raise our water bill whenever they deem it necessary? What they are doing cannot be lawful. There are 200 units on this property, each paying on average $20/month for water based on a very official looking bill we receive from a billing company the apartment complex pays to bill us for water despite individual unit metering devices. Based on these numbers, the apartment complex is making approximately $4,000/month, or almost $50,000/year unlawfully charging it’s tenants for water.
What can I do to resolve this issue, and what rights do we have as tenants that will enable us to recover damages for what cannot possibly be lawful actions taken by the apartment complex?
