Westwood Apartments

I am the property manager at Westwood ApartmentsOn March 5th, 2015, the resident from unit #came into my office and made a complaint regarding a high electric bill*** Stated that she thought the bill was higher due to a faulty outlet in her unitI called SMUD and expalined the situationI
spoke with *** in customer serviceHe told me that in the winter months the rates for electric service triple and people tend to use more power, therefore their bills are higher*** stated that it is not unual for higher bills in December and January and more so that it is not unusual for the amount to drop in FebrauryThe rates in February go back to normal, so most people see a huge difference in their bills*** also gave me the amounts for that same address in which were $in Decemeber and $in January 2014, and the same drop in February in the amount of $*** also stated that a faulty outlet would not create such a differnce in usage and priceHe again stated that there is nothing unusual about the amounts of her billsTherefore I do not believe that Westwood Apartments is at fault nor reponsible for any re-payments

The cable will be repaired on or before 4/15/If you have any further questions, please call me at ###-###-####
Thanks,
*** ***
Property Manager

Review: I have a complaint regarding Westwood apartments and their failure to take responsibility for the faulty electrical outlets causing a little fire and extremely high energy usage and [redacted] bills. I have lived at Westwood for almost 2 1/2 years now in a 1bd 1ba 600sq ft apt and have always got very high [redacted] bills and ive never understood why(until now), my last bill was $321.02 and I work 12 hours a day, don't use heat/ac, and do the same thing day in day out, i'm very aware of not using electricity unless I absolutely NEED to. I had 2 faulty outlets in my until, 1 in my bedroom that was so hot it melted my light cord into the wall/outlet and burned my fingers it was so hot, the other outlet was in my living-room and that one did the same thing but caught on FIRE. With that said, I got the repair man to come out finally to replace the 2 faulty outlets in early Feb 2015, after they were replaced I got a [redacted] bill for $66.50(thats a huge difference), had a bill investigation done by [redacted] and they called me back asking me "what have you been doing differently? because there has be a drastic change in your electricity usage.." I then told him about the outlets and he told me that if they were in fact faulty like I had told him then that was the cause of my high usage/bills. After I got that conformation from [redacted] I told my apt's this and collected all the bills, graphs, bill investigation and wrote a letter to the corporate office to inform them of the issue at hand with all the correct documentation to prove that this was the cause. Well.. corporate got back to me and told me that they called [redacted] and that my bill was correct($321.02) because "[redacted] charges more money in the colder months" (which I might add is bt) I am now fighting with Westwood about this issue and their lack of responsibility for renting a unit out with electrical issues like this, which is also a health and safety issue because it caught on fire, there are still 2 other electrical issues im having at the moment.Desired Settlement: I want Westwood apartments to pay the $321.02 smud bill or refund me if I have to pay it so my power wont get shut off(my bill is due 3-26-15). Either way they need to pay it, ive spent thousands of dollars on smud bills because I wasn't aware of the electrical issues that were causing such high usage/bills, my bills have always been $100 or more per month which is incorrect because im never home to use energy like that. I have all the info to prove that this is the cause of my high bills.

Business

Response:

I am the property manager at Westwood Apartments. On March 5th, 2015, the resident from unit #8 came into my office and made a complaint regarding a high electric bill. [redacted] Stated that she thought the bill was higher due to a faulty outlet in her unit. I called SMUD and expalined the situation. I spoke with [redacted] in customer service. He told me that in the winter months the rates for electric service triple and people tend to use more power, therefore their bills are higher. [redacted] stated that it is not unual for higher bills in December and January and more so that it is not unusual for the amount to drop in Febraury. The rates in February go back to normal, so most people see a huge difference in their bills. [redacted] also gave me the amounts for that same address in 2013 which were $284.00 in Decemeber 2013 and $151.00 in January 2014, and the same drop in February 2014 in the amount of $73.00. [redacted] also stated that a faulty outlet would not create such a differnce in usage and price. He again stated that there is nothing unusual about the amounts of her bills. Therefore I do not believe that Westwood Apartments is at fault nor reponsible for any re-payments.

Review: I moved to this property in 2007 and everything was fine I payed my rent every month like I was supposed to then I found out that the manager was stealing rent and deposit money from the company while I was residing there and my lease was up that next year in august of 2008 they are on my credit report as and eviction and I had already moved out as they were changing management I want them off my credit and have been unsucessful in finding a correct phone number and address so I can get it removed.Can you please help I called all five or six of their properties and no calls were answered also ie the courtside apartments on marconi ave.Desired Settlement: I want them to remove any further action off my credit history

Business

Response:

[redacted] S. [redacted] filed a complaint against Westwood Apartments regarding her occupancy back in 2007. At this time, the property was owned by [redacted]. The property was sold to current ownership (Hill Westwood Holdings, LLC) in 2012. Ms. [redacted] is suggesting that the prior owner reported her debt to a credit agency and this debt is showing up on her credit report. She would like the debt removed. Please note that the current owners do not have record of her debt, as her file was retained with the prior owner, [redacted]. We believe that the prior owner may have been reporting debts to a collection agency named [redacted]. Generally, once a debt has been filed with a collection agency, the tenant must deal directly with the agency to resolve the debt. We suggest that Ms. [redacted] call [redacted] at ###-###-#### to get assistance.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my concern, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.