Increasing a bill a year after it has been paid?

[stephdej2]

Hi. I am the Property Manager of a large apartment complex. I recieved a letter from our utility provider last week stating the following:

A recent audit of your account indicates that you were billed at the wrong rate on irrigation charges for the period of Oct. 2003 through Oct. 2008. To correct this error, your account will be debited for 1 year of the rate difference totaling $12,921.63. An adjustment of this amount will be included on your June invoice.

My question is first, can they do this? Secondly, isn't there some law that states that after a bill has been paid, and a certain amount of time passes, is it legal for them to go back and just charge this? They have just sent us the bill and are only giving us until the 9th of June to pay it.

 

[Theresagail]

-- Since no one has replied I will try, however I dont know of a LAW that states they cant do this.

Seems to me that utility companies are doing this a lot lately-- so I would call the company talk to a manager and ask for the auditing report that has come to this figure-- tell them you are disputing this until you can see the numbers yourself.

In Utah people have been getting things like this, they get so mad they contact the news and go on television over the issue. Some companies have been put on the radar for this stuff and ultimately change their mind that may be an idea

 

[sfitz]

There is such a thing as a statute of limitations on debt. It varies by state. I believe that the limitation would start at the last use, so since this is a "wrong rate" error, the limitation would start Oct 2008. The limitation clearly has not expired on this debt, so yes they can bill you.