Oxford Comma

[Oxfordy]

Jurisdiction

Virginia

I am currently living in an apartment complex that has 84 apartments. The company owns over 20 apartment complex's. I have a year lease and which began mid February 2026.

I am currently disputing a water bill because my lease says water, sewer, trash is included in my $1,220.00 monthly rent.

I sent a letter with a copy of my lease to the water company instructing them to cease and desist from sending me these bills, and I also sent a letter to the property manager instructing them to notify the water company of our lease agreement. The property manager responded in a letter, claiming that water, sewer and trash is "not applicable" and that all residents are responsible for "water, sewer and trash charges."

Eventually I paid the guy a visit to try and resolve the issue and in that conversation he claimed that we don't have to pay for sewer and trash but that we must pay for water.

Here is the actual wording written in our rental agreement;

1 THE INITIAL TERM of this lease will be from 2/13/2026 to 2/28/2027 at a MONTHLY RENT of $1,220.00; which includes water, sewer, trash (See #3), pet rent and short term lease fee (if applicable).

This is the #3 reference;

3 PROVIDED by Resident: Electricity must be transferred into resident's name by lease start date. Resident agrees to maintain Electricity throughout lease term.

I believe this rental agreement is ambiguous and if we cannot come to an agreement it should be canceled. Instead, the property manager is giving us 30 days to pay the water bill or risk being evicted immediately.

I believe the "if applicable" only applies to the "pet rent and short term lease fee".

Can someone please share their opinion on the interpretation of whether or not the "if applicable" applies also to water, sewer, trash?

 

[army judge]

Can someone please share their opinion on the interpretation of whether or not the "if applicable" applies also to water, sewer, trash?

Contact:

Office of Eviction Prevention and Rental Assistance
tenantlandlordinfo@dhcd.virginia.gov
Tenants and landlords have legal protections under the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (VRLTA). The VRLTA applies to most residential rental properties in Virginia.

As a renter, there are certain rights and responsibilities that come with renting a home in Virginia. A summary of these right and responsibilities can be found by clicking on the Statement of Tenant Rights and Responsibilities link. For more detailed information on the rights and responsibilities, please refer to the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant handbook. The handbook provides further information on the rental process.

Before signing a lease, prospective tenants should read and understand the terms of the contract. Consulting a lawyer or the landlord for clarification of the rental agreement is advisable.

Starting July 1, 2020, all landlords must offer the Statement of Tenant Rights and Responsibilities to any prospective tenant. Both the landlord and tenant must sign a form at the end of the statement acknowledging that the tenant has received from the landlord the statement of tenant rights and responsibilities. The written rental agreement will be effective on the date that the form is signed by both parties. Landlords must provide a copy of the signed Statement of Tenant Rights and Responsibilities and a copy of the written rental agreement within one month of the effective date of the rental agreement.

If you feel that you have been discriminated against in a housing transaction, contact the Virginia Fair Housing Office www.dpor.virginia.gov/FairHousing or Virginia Relay 7-1-1.

https://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/sites...nt/translations/2026/VRLTA-statement-2026.pdf

You might contact one or ALL of the following organizations, willing to help tenants in distress.

https://www.valegalaid.org/issues/housing/landlord-and-tenant-issues

Virginia Fair Housing Office | Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation

www.dpor.virginia.gov

https://www.valegalaid.org/issues/housing/landlord-and-tenant-issues

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act

law.lis.virginia.gov

 

[adjusterjack]

I believe this rental agreement is ambiguous and if we cannot come to an agreement it should be canceled.

A court will absolutely not cancel a contract when only one part of the contract is in dispute. The court will address and rule only on the part in dispute and leave the rest of the contract as is.

1 THE INITIAL TERM of this lease will be from 2/13/2026 to 2/28/2027 at a MONTHLY RENT of $1,220.00; which includes water, sewer, trash (See #3), pet rent and short term lease fee (if applicable).

This is the #3 reference;

3 PROVIDED by Resident: Electricity must be transferred into resident's name by lease start date. Resident agrees to maintain Electricity throughout lease term.

I'm a former landlord. Based on ONLY what you have provided I tend to agree with you that $1220 includes water, sewer, and trash.

I also agree that it's poorly written and can be interpreted in two ways.

In contract law ambiguity is typically ruled against the party that provided the contract.

It might help you to know that it's usually customary that property owners provide water, sewer, and trash as part of the rent. Check with other apartment complexes to confirm that. If there ads specify that you can present them in court.

I suggest you read some of the VA Supreme Court decisions about ambiguity in a contract. I've narrowed the search down to residential leases.

Google Scholar

scholar.google.com

Look for decisions that involve disputes that are similar to yours.

Going forward it's up to you if you want to push this far enough to end up in court defending against an eviction.

 

[zddoodah]

I believe this rental agreement is ambiguous

I disagree.

and if we cannot come to an agreement it should be canceled.

Even if I agreed with you about ambiguity, canceling the lease would not be the appropriate remedy.

I believe the "if applicable" only applies to the "pet rent and short term lease fee".

I agree (since, whereas water, sewer and trash will be needed by every unit, pet rent and short-term lease fee won't apply to everyone).

Can someone please share their opinion on the interpretation of whether or not the "if applicable" applies also to water, sewer, trash?

"THE INITIAL TERM of this lease will be from 2/13/2026 to 2/28/2027 at a MONTHLY RENT of $1,220.00; which includes water, sewer, trash (See #3), pet rent and short term lease fee (if applicable)."

The semicolon after "$1,220.00" should be a comma, but that's an obvious typo that would be disregarded in a legal analysis. I'm guessing that, in the lease form, the $1,220.00 is actually a blank that is fillable. It is incumbent on the party creating the document (presumably the landlord) to include in that number the five items mentioned. Additionally, the reference to item 3 seems to be out of place since item 3 only refers to electricity, which isn't one of the five items mentioned.

Here's the thing: unless you really want to deal with an attempted eviction, you need to work this out.

Also, there is no Oxford comma issue here.

 

[Oxfordy]

I disagree.




Even if I agreed with you about ambiguity, canceling the lease would not be the appropriate remedy.




I agree (since, whereas water, sewer and trash will be needed by every unit, pet rent and short-term lease fee won't apply to everyone).




"THE INITIAL TERM of this lease will be from 2/13/2026 to 2/28/2027 at a MONTHLY RENT of $1,220.00; which includes water, sewer, trash (See #3), pet rent and short term lease fee (if applicable)."

The semicolon after "$1,220.00" should be a comma, but that's an obvious typo that would be disregarded in a legal analysis. I'm guessing that, in the lease form, the $1,220.00 is actually a blank that is fillable. It is incumbent on the party creating the document (presumably the landlord) to include in that number the five items mentioned. Additionally, the reference to item 3 seems to be out of place since item 3 only refers to electricity, which isn't one of the five items mentioned.

Here's the thing: unless you really want to deal with an attempted eviction, you need to work this out.

Also, there is no Oxford comma issue here.

It is my understanding that in contract law, there is a fundamental rule called "the last antecedent rule." This means that a modifying phrase (like "if applicable") generally applies only to the words or phrases immediately preceding it, not to everything that came before it in a long list.

Here is how their lease clause is structured and why my interpretation is structurally sound:

The List Structure: [Water] [sewer] [trash (See #3)] [pet rent and short term lease fee (if applicable)].

The Application: Water, sewer, and trash are standard municipal utilities. They are always "applicable" to an inhabited apartment. On the other hand, pet rent is only applicable if you have a pet, and a short-term lease fee is only applicable if you are on a short-term lease (which I'm not, as I have a full-year lease).

I also have two ESA dogs, so the pet rent is not applicable to us, and we're also allowed to ignore and disregard their "Pet Policy" in our rental agreement.

The Grammatical Standard: Because "if applicable" is placed inside the parentheses directly attached to "short term lease fee," a reasonable person would read it as modifying only that fee (or at most, the conditional fees like pets/short-term). If it were meant to apply to the entire list, it would typically be set off by commas at the very end of the sentence (e.g., "...which includes water, sewer, trash, pet rent, and short term lease fees, if applicable.").

Furthermore, the reference to Clause #3 reinforces my point. Clause #3 explicitly states what is Provided by Resident (Electricity). It completely omits water, sewer, or trash. If the landlord intended for me to pay for water, it legally and logically should have been listed under Clause #3 alongside electricity.

I mentioned that I think the contract is ambiguous. In contract law, there is a powerful doctrine known as contra proferentem. This rule states that if a clause in a contract is ambiguous and can be interpreted in two different ways, the ambiguity is strictly interpreted against the party who drafted it.

Since the property management company (which owns over 20 complexes) drafted this lease, they are responsible for its clarity. If they meant "water is not included," they should have written that clearly. Because they wrote a confusing sentence, I believe a court will almost always favor my reasonable interpretation over theirs.

In addressing the property manager's shifting story.

5/18/2026 Letter from Tim Mayberry states that residents are responsible for water charges only.

6/1/2026 Letter from Tim Mayberry states that residents are responsible for water, sewer and trash charges.

6/12/2026 Email from Tim Mayberry states that any future requests from me to alter the lease or its contents will be declined. However, he is the one that is altering the lease and its contents.

6/12/2026 Letter from Tim

Mayberry states that residents are responsible for water, sewer and trash charges.

6/16/2026 Went to Stewart Langley Properties office and asked his secretary to look at my lease and tell me how she interprets the part about what's included in the rent. She said, "sewer and trash is included."

6/16/2026 In an office meeting with Tim Mayberry, he claimed that residents are responsible for water charges only.

6/23/2026 Material Noncompliance Notice from Tim Mayberry states that residents are responsible for water, sewer and trash charges.

6/23/2026 Letter from Tim Mayberry states that residents are responsible for water charges only.

They have given me four completely different stories:

Story 1 (Several written responses): Water, sewer, and trash are "not applicable" and I must pay all of them.

Story 2 (Written response): Sewer and trash are free, but I must pay for water.

Story 3 (In person): Sewer and trash are free, but I must pay for water.

Story 4 (The Lease itself): Says they are all lumped together in the exact same clause and included in my monthly rent of $1,220.00.

By claiming in person and in his own written letter that I don't have to pay for sewer and trash, the manager is completely contradicting his own written letters. He is arbitrarily splitting a single clause ("water, sewer, trash") in half, claiming part of it applies and part doesn't. This oral flip-flop shows that his interpretation is arbitrary and not based on the text of the lease.

It is also my understanding that in almost all jurisdictions, a landlord cannot "evict you immediately." They must serve you a formal pay-or-quit notice, wait out the statutory notice period, file an eviction lawsuit (unlawful detainer) in court, and win a judgment before a judge. And at this point I have a right to present my lease to a judge.