Lawyers - Please read - I need advice on suing the city i live in

I had a similiar issue with my city. I was billed for taxes and utilities on the home from a time that I was living in another municipality. Turns out that the city issued me a report at the time I purchased the house stating that there was no outstanding bills or leans; however, this was based on the seller writing a NSF cheque to clear over $7K worth of bills. I was left holding the bag, and so I sued the city.

After a year and a half, it was all resolved. However, it wasn't resolved through legal challenges. It was settled by the city counsel and by working with my local counselor.

My advice to you is to book a visit with your elected official and get him/her on your side. They are elected to do this sort of thing for their constituents. This route is free and should be explored LONG before you hire the legal guns.

wherever the $1200 ends up, in a water bill, or taxes, or anything else- don't pay it. eventually, someone will have to take you to court to get it. then, argue your case.

keep good records!!!

I wonder if the city issued rebates to all the homes that their "estimates" actually overcharged?

First this is not necessarily true. Check the terms of your agreement with the water company and city. And depending on the Admin Laws of the state it is quite possible that your due process rights were violated by not receiving notification of a hearing. You have a right to an informal hearing over these exact matters.

Second I strongly recommend you contact the Legal Aid organization in your area. If in fact others have dealt with this issue then it's highly likely that they have had clients come in and already know the answer.

Rojo. I honestly don't get this. You graduated from what most people will agree is the finest university in the country. You coach at one of the top 20 universites in the country. Yet.... you don't know what period your water bill is for ("it was 3 months or six months"), and you justify your ignorance by saying, "The values and numbers are irrelevant." ARE YOU FROM MARS OR WHAT?

This is the way people in the ghetto approach things. When you have a problem you approach it logically. Start from the beginning.

1) Get a full statement from the water company.

2) Make note of your usage

3) Make note of the rates you are being charged and for what period.

4) Calculate what you should have been charged.

5) Credit the estimated payments against your calculated bill.

6) Reconcile the difference with your new bill

7) If the term since the last meter read was before you moved in your home than make a pro rata adjustment.

8) Then contact the water company and go over your calculations. Show them your work, put the onus on them to tell you where you are wrong.

If you cannot run the calculations yourself, the get John Kellogg to do if for you. If JK gets insulted, then make one of your runners do this for you. But for the love of God, you don't have a beef until you have all of the information in front of you.

"Classic" I agree with you, but for a different reason.

rojo wrote:

Not my problem. For all I and they know it came from the previous owner of the house and not me.

SO my response would be no one pays it.

They in good faith gave me a bill and I in good faith paid it. To say it's wrong 10 years later is insane particularly when I didn't even own the house.

The fact of the matter is the city did just fine for 10 years without this 'extra water usage revenue' so they don't need it.

On a separate note, the bill wasn't for one month, it was 3 months or six months. The values and numbers are irrelevant. This is a principal thing.

Read your contract with the utility as well as the relevant rules and regulations. Even just read your bill when it comes.

Chances are that you had adequate warning that the bill you were sent each month was just an estimate. I'm sure they explicitly reserved to right to subsequently adjust that amount. The fact that you never paid attention to it is irrelevant.

From a policy standpoint, it is not a very good way to run a utility. But that alone does not make it illegal.

"Near the end of the 2009, I got a water bill that was much less. "

This is your defense. They screwed up, not you. You are willing to pay an amount per month equivalent to 2009. Otherwise, you tell them that you want a jury trial, and will appeal to the Supreme Court if you need to, because you lined up some lawyers (slow on their work load, who believe they will recover attorney fees.

Saw this article on CNN today and reminded me of this thread. Anything ever come of it?

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/03/01/water.bills.war/index.html?hpt=T2#