always the utility company even under the old lease. It is always a third party providing
those utilities. Mr. Terry also indicated the landlord had self-certified and that is what
led to this appeal. Mr. Terry’s August 8 response indicated that utility payments aren’t
received by the landlord. It is money received by a third party provider which is simply
not true. I’m afraid that Ms. Wilhight, in her statement, misunderstood what was going
on in the same way I did. That was until I met Sarah Davis, Ms. Wilhight’s neighbor.
Her former lease was similar to Ms. Wilhight’s but expired 4 months ago. She provided
a copy of her utility statements for the four utilities allocated to the tenants for Rayette
Lofts.
Several things to note. On the bottom of the first page, it says the payment should be
made to Rayette Lofts. Ms. Davis and Ms. Wilhight, is not paying anything to any utility
company. Payments go to Rayette Lofts, the landlord. At the top of this utility
statement is actually a broader statement that includes parking, rent, utilities and then
a grand total. In Ms. Davis’s case it’s a total of $2,655. That is paid to Rayette Lofts in
a lump sum. Ms. Davis will indicate she has always paid that through that portal in a
lump sum. She doesn’t make any separate utility payment. The same will apply to Ms.
Wilhight if she loses this appeal. The ordinance defines rent as “all monetary
consideration charged or received by a landlord concerning the use or occupancy of a
rental unit pursuant to a rental agreement”.
Again, in August, she paid $1,575 for her apartment which included the owner’s
payment and provision for those 4 utilities. It was contracted for and his operating
expense. In September, but for this appeal, she would pay 11-12% more for the exact
same things. The landlord pays the utility company as an operating expense, just like
under the old lease. The only things that’s changed is its costing her 11-12% more
annually to live there. She is paying the landlord that money, not a utility company. It
couldn’t be clearer that under the plain language definition of rent under the ordinance
that her rent has gone up 11-12%. That dramatically exceeds the 8% self certification
limit. The materials submitted to the City doesn’t address this issue at all because it
doesn’t show that what is being required from Ms. Wilhight is payment of an additional
$130 to $150 to reimburse the landlord for the landlord’s utility payments. It is rent
under the ordinance. It isn’t a payment to the utility company.
Sara Davis: I talked to Angela and found out she had some of the same issues with
property management I did. Unfortunately my lease was up 2 weeks prior to Rent
Stabilization going into effect April 14. I was hit with a 5% increase if I signed the
lease and almost 10% if I did not sign the lease and went month to month. I was also
hit with utilities, which was a contingency upon me signing the lease the first time. I
specifically asked these questions because I came from out of state, not knowing
laws here. I was told $30 to $50 dollars were their typical rent increases, nothing during
Covid. Our ceilings are about 13 feet and all windows, so I was obviously concerned if I
was paying heat and air what it would be. I was told those utilities, aside from
electricity, were paid for by the building. I have had issues with transparency. I’ve
asked for the actual bills from the utility company and how it is calculated. I have a
larger unit, but I’m only one person, I don’t use as much water. I’ve asked to see how
they break that out and determine that if we aren’t separately metered. I’ve noted the
bill for garbage that I pay to Rayette is more than what is in my lease. They have been
charging me more. I’ve continually asked for their bills so I can see if I am being
over-charged. I have yet to receive anything. They’ve changed management four times
in the last year and a half. All have told me they have been instructed not to give out
contact information beyond that office. Cushman and Wakefield is a large company. I
finally think I finally got a hold of people to get me that information. I am paying
because I don’t want to assess late fees.
Moermond: the request for information that you made, when, to whom, and what exactly
was it?