Court for Water Bill?

By Angela Cook

Good morning.  I received a notice last month that my rent was late because the landlord had reduced my rent paid by the amount of a water bill that I owed (I pay water charges to the apartment complex). When I called to ask about the reduction in rent and the 10% late fee I was told that there was an addendum to my lease indicating that I had agreed to have my rent payment reduced by any past due amount including water bills. When I asked them to produce a signed copy (becuase my lease doesn’t say I have to pay a fee for late water bills only late rent) they couldn’t produce one, because I never signed one. I asked them to waive the late fee and the site manager contacted the regional office and said she would let me know the outcome. Well, she didn’t and I received a notice from their atty with a court date and additional court and atty fees to pay. I went to court only to find that my case had been dismissed – not becuase they thought I shouldn’t pay the fees but because I paid my rent for the next month, which is again late because they took all the other fees. Now I have more late fees, and I don’t know how to get out of this circle of paying and dismissing and being charged late fees. Can I go to my local General District Court and put the rent into escrow and go to court on the next date that the atty sends? What will I need to provide to prove to the judge that I had no prior knowledge of this "policy"? I have to sign a new lease and of course this time they included a copy of the addendum for me to sign, haven’t signed it yet though.

Thanks!

Related posts:

Holy Cow, we couldn't find any other related post. Sorry. :(