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Van Nuys man shocked with $13,000 utility bill
FOX 11 spoke with a Los Angeles man who was shocked with a $13,000 utility bill after years of billing issues related to LADWP's address mixup.
LOS ANGELES - "I thought it was a hoax," says Van Nuys resident Will Ventres, when he got an LADWP bill for over $13,000 earlier this year.
But it wasn't. Even though he had notified the agency of his new address when he moved in back in 2020, the bills were being sent somewhere else.
"I called repeatedly," he explains, saying he was told COVID issues were making it difficult to correct billing issues, but not to worry.
He wasn't sure if his landlord was paying them or if the moratorium had been extended. He couldn't check online because he did not have the correct account number, since he hadn't gotten bills.
When he received the huge bill this year, he spent hours writing emails and calling customer service. Eventually, he did find one customer service manager who agreed to discount $2,500 from the bill. Ventres paid $3,000 from his end and agreed the balance would go on a payment plan. The next bill reflected that, but the balance suddenly increased to about $17,000.
"I was told they hadn't been reading my water meter since 2022, so they were estimating those additional charges," he says.
That's when he contacted Timothy Blood, with Blood, Hurst @ O'Reardon, LLP. He was one of the attorneys representing LADWP customers back in 2017, when the agency agreed to a multimillion-dollar settlement, paying customers claiming they had been overcharged during the rollout of a new billing system.
"I am not surprised," says Blood. It's hard to believe, he explains, the problems continue at the rate they are being reported.
Even taking into account the size of the agency and expected issues with meter reading equipment and human error, it's hard to explain how repeated requests to change an address can be logged but ignored for years.
There's also the issue that LADWP is not supposed to back bill for longer than six years. Ventres said he was told that limit applies if no bills are issued. In his case, they were, but to the wrong address.
Exasperated, Ventres posted his story on social media, getting so many responses from people describing similar situations, they are looking at the possibility of a class action.
We reached out to DWP for comment, and after looking at his case, they did agree his case was unique and offered to substantially reduce his bill. Their statement:
"LADWP had been investigating the unique circumstances surrounding Mr. Ventres's billing concerns. While Mr. Ventres did receive the benefit of service for the duration of the period under dispute, LADWP worked with him to resolve and waive the majority of the disputed balance on his unpaid water and power bill based upon our review and our rules of service. We thank FOX 11 for helping to escalate this issue with us leading to a resolution with our valued customer."
DWP does advise anyone with billing issues to reach out to them on their website ladwp.com.