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The water company isn't responsible for your plumbing.

There probably is a leak somewhere in the building, and you just haven't found it yet. I wouldn't rely on tenants to report it to you. Do the cranberry-juice test in the toilets, and check everything carefully.

Leaking facet, toilet or tap ... check them all ?

Any recent building works next-door ... anyone 'tapping' into your water supply ?

If your bill has doubled something is more wrong then just longer showers or extra guests - A dripping tap can add up $ very quickly !

I'm in!

We are a small building of 5 individual units, and our quarterly bills are roughly $900 (+/- $100) - that's for the entire building. Just want to post as a reference here.

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my landlord recently asked if I'd changed my water usage (had a lot of guests, etc) because his water bill unexpectedly doubled.

I'm having the same issue....
I have a 2 Family house, 2nd family is hardly even home since one works live-ins and the others go to school/work. My Waterbill has been $600-$700 each Qtr...

They ask me to monitor my water usage by reading the meter before and after I wake up and there's not much difference. I got someone to check for leaks and their wasn't any... I asked could their be something wrong and if they can get someone out, but they said their shouldn't be a problem since the meter was recently replaced last year...

The bill I received today is as follows:
Usage in hundreds of Cubic Feet: 71
Water Charges: $283.29
Water Facilities Charge: $18.81
Sewer Charges: $386.95
Total Current Charges: $689.05

I'm a first time owner and I've compared bills with relatives and theirs about or less than 1/3 of what I?m paying...

Our condo association just discovered a lien for a supposedly unpaid water bill from 2009, never received a late notice or notice of a lien. Water bills are shown as paid up... of course the original bill was for 1/3 of the amount we ended up paying because of interest and lien charges, etc. It's not enough money for us to deal with the frustration of trying to trace it and we never heard back from United Water when inquiring, of course. Interesting to hear similar stories, though... how many others are out there?

Why don't you guys contact the TV stations?

http://7online.com/7onyourside/

http://helpmehoward.pix11.com/

http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/bamboozled/index.html

There's a letter on the topic in today's JJ re United Water billing and Bayonne. Same problem. Don't see it online as yet...

Same here, but get this. They put a lien on my property citing that I didn't pay my bill for over 2 years. Interestingly it was somebody else's bill (and meter #) and I was current with my payments. I had to pay that bill and interest in order to remove the lien. It took them over one year to admit the mistake and refund the money. They never refunded the interest back.

This sounds like a scam.

Hi Mao,

I KNOW how frustrated you are because I have been there with the MUA. Long story short, I bought a condo and the
assn was paying off a $7500 water bill which they never disclosed as an assessment. I was told by the HOA that nobody (small building; smart people)
could successfully negotiate with these people. I gave it a shot.

Here is how it unraveled:

We were underbilled for 5 years. The treasurer didn't know the "price of water" and kept paying the bill, but it was 10% of actual cost. When MUA finally did an audit and realized that we had underpaid, the building was hit with a $7,500 bill.
We were put on a payment plan. By the time I was made aware of this, the amount owed was down to $3500. I called and argued and got nowhere.
Then I looked up case law and found that generally what happens is a lawsuit against them results with the owed amount being split.
I told MUA of my finding and said that we could do it this way or I'd have the Jersey Journal at their door.

The reason we handled it this way is because we actually OWED the money; however, they OWED us a yearly audit and never did one for 5 years and then
slammed us with the bill claiming that we should have known better. They are supposed to be providing a service and THEY should have been properly auditing.

In YOUR case, you don't owe it. I would DEMAND something in writing citing why you owe this money. If they refuse, I would let them know that you are willing to take this to the media. Since you are a lawyer, you can draft it yourself and it will carry weight and not cost you anything. If that doesn't work, you can either make good of the threat or sue them.

I am sure others will join you. I'm sorry you are going through this. I would mention the Fraud Protection Act to them because, although I'm not an attorney, I believe it applies here.

Best of luck!

Similar experience - I think I was out about $600 or so - they cut me a break on interest and a one-time "leak adjustment" of around $300. The conversation went like:

- Can you check your meter is working correctly? To do that we'd have to take it out and test it. And that would cost you. (They sent someone from UW to check there wasn't a leak - but didn't bother looking at my plumbing - just the meter)
- Can I get a smart meter to send me usage alerts? Not at the moment. We're considering a plan for that.
- Can you read my meter monthly instead of quarterly to detect problems sooner? No.
- Can you replace my meter? We're upgrading meters starting with 1" on older properties, and working our way across JC. We can add you to our list.
- Any way I can tell if there's a problem? You can read your meter manually frequently, track the numbers and calculate usage for yourself.

The whole thing is setup to avoid detection of leaks for as long as possible, so they get the windfall profit. Then failure to pay can result not in standard debt collection process for regular utilities, but City-enforced tax lien and possible loss of property.

Count me in. I'll pm you my details.

Anyone want to join in a class suit against United Water and the MUA if I file suit (I'm a laywer)?

I have been arguing with them over a bill on my house from two years ago. Instead of the usual $225, it came in at $2500. It made no sense. There was no leak, etc. So after spending two years arguing about it, they tell me that they will remove interest and let me off the hood for $3500! (I have been paying my bill in the meantime).

You can PM me if you are interested.

There should be no fee since this case would, I think, come under the Consumer Fraud Act which provides for treble damages and counsel fees.