“Dear PoPville,
I have been renting an apartment that uses third-party billing (Conservice) to manage the building’s utility fees for several years. I recently moved out to my own place and I added someone to my lease so that she could take over, but there was a one-week gap between me moving out and her moving in. I’m a foreigner and I didn’t know that utilities need to be in the residents’ name at all times, so now I have received a Conservice bill of US$75 for this period (US$50 “vacant service fee” and US$25 “vacant electric fee”). Is this legal?
I reread my lease carefully and indeed it states that “the Resident shall not allow any utility, other than telephone, to be interrupted or interfered with or disconnected by any means, including the non-payment of a bill, until the end of the Lease Term”. However, it also states “If Resident fails to transfer such utility(ies) by the time requested by Landlord, Landlord shall have the right to fine Resident an amount not to exceed $50.00 after 2 days…” so it sounds like the maximum they can fine me is US$50.
Both Conservice and the building are not allowing me to appeal the fees. I was wondering if it’s worth pursuing a partial chargeback through my bank.”