Conservice Refusal to Provide Billing Information California Class Action

Conservice, LLC, which calls itself a utility management provider, bills individual tenants at apartment complexes for their share of utility bills for things like water, pest control, and trash. But the complaint for this class action alleges that Conservice does not follow California law for this pro-rata billing, alleging that it may add upcharges and does not allow individual tenants their rights to review certain master bills or know the formulas used to calculate their individual bills. The complaint alleges that Conservice refuses to provide this information.

Two classes have been defined for this action:

• The Water Service Class is all current and former tenants of multi-dwelling residential buildings and motorhome parks in California that were invoiced for water service by Conservice and requested Conservice to provide the master-metered water bill and/or calculations substantiating the charges, between September 23, 2018 and September 23, 2022.
• The Non-Water Service Class is all current and former tenants of multi-dwelling residential buildings and motorhome parks in California that were invoiced for any utility or property-wide services other than water by Conservice and requested Conservice to provide the underlying master-metered or property-wide bill and/or calculations substantiating the charges, between September 23, 2018 and September 23, 2022.

As part of its services, Conservice processes utility bills and bills for property-wide services, breaks them down, and bills the individual tenants. The charges may be for things like water, electricity, pest control, or trash disposal.

California requires a number of things from companies like Conservice, the complaint alleges, for example, that they must bill for utility charges without adding any upcharges. The complaint alleges also that they must provide master-metered bills to any tenant who requests them and the methods used to calculate the tenants’ individual shares. Also, the complaint alleges, “equity affords tenants the right to review any other master-metered or property-wide invoices and the exact formulas used to calculate their billed pro[-]rata share.”

But the complaint claims that Conservice uniformly refuses to provide master-meter bills, property-wide invoices, or the underlying calculations for individual charges to tenants when they ask for them.

The complaint provides examples of the vague responses tenants have received when they have asked for the information. For example, as to water bill, the complaint claims a tenant received this response: “Water service is provided by Sweetwater Authority. Service provider issues bill, property management pays a portion to cover common area usage. Remaining amount is paid by residents using a formula based on the number of occupants and the unit’s square footage.”

Conservice has refused to provide these things “even following demand of legal counsel,” the complaint says, and it alleges, “upon information and belief, the refusal to provide the underlying information only serves the purpose of obscuring illegal upcharging of utility and other property-wide obligations levied against individual tenants.”

This lawsuit has been brought, the complaint says, to declare that Conservice’s refusal to provide information is unlawful and unfair as well as to determine whether its purpose is to hide unlawful upcharges.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Consumer
Tags: Improper Billing, Incorrect Calculations of Balances Owed, Omitting or Withholding Information, Unfair Services, Utilities, Utility Overcharge