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Feb 22, 2024
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meera Yeah lol and maybe he has a Text bubble that says
I'm writing this letter to establish the facts and expectations around the payment of the water bill at [REDACTED].
In Massachusetts, It is the landlord's responsibility to bill the tenants for water usage.
Under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 186 section 22(k), "Water usage separately charged to tenants pursuant to this section shall be delivered by the water company to the landlord and such landlord shall:— (1) be the consumer; (2) for billing purposes, be the customer of record; (3) be responsible for payment of the water company bills; and (4) be subject to any actions of the water company for nonpayment."
The landlord (Michael Polacco and the Boston Property Group, together) have not paid the water bill for over two years.Bills for the water are sent to Michael Polacco (the owner) at [REDACTED], an address at which he does not live.
BPG has never provided us with a bill for water usage.
We have reached out to BPG multiple times to try to rectify this, as early as September 2022, when we found there was a multi-thousand dollar balance on the water account. Each time we raised the issue, the management company has told us it is our responsibility to pay Boston Sewer and Water directly.
Boston Sewer and Water does not allow tenants to pay directly: they do not allow tenants to set up accounts. I attempted to set up an account with BS+W, and they told me to "figure it out with the landlord." I called BPG after this call, but they did not act.
Now, the management company expects us to pay the charges from September 2022 onward along with delinquency fees accrued from .It was the management company's responsibility to bill us monthly for water, and an 17-month backcharge is unreasonable and unfair.
Because it was the management company's responsibility to bill the tenants for the past two years, we do not expect to pay 17 months of back charges of water billing. However, we are willing to have a dialogue about a settlement. Our opening offer is to pay 1/8th of the remainder of the bill after delinquency fees are subtracted. This should amount to around 200-300 dollars.Of course, we're willing to pay for water going forward, provided we are properly billed. The billing requirements for tenants can be found in M.G.L. ch. 186 Section 22(f).
Feb 22, 2024
