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Woman sues landlord for alleged power overcharge
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Posted on Jun 13 2005
A woman sued her landlord yesterday for allegedly overcharging her for her electricity bill during her one-month stay at a Garapan apartment.
In a complaint, Olga Zanko Bence asked the Superior Court to assess monetary damages against Ricardo and Maria Castro, who do business as C.C. Enterprises, over the alleged fraud.
Bence’s lawyer Joseph Arriola said that the defendants assessed power charges on his client based on an erroneous meter reading.
“Defendants intentionally altered the meter reading, resulting in substantially higher electricity charges to [Bence],” Arriola said.
He said Bence did not discover the alleged fraud until she compared the meter reading provided by the defendants and the actual reading of the meter on her occupied apartment.
Bence also sued the landlord after the latter refused to refund her security deposit of $300. She also asked the court to award her twice that amount plus interest.
The complaint stated that the parties entered into a lease agreement on March 15, 2005, whereby Bence would lease from the defendants a one-bedroom apartment unit for $325 monthly. The defendants also assessed a $300-security deposit and a “refundable” $50-cleaning fee on Bence.
Arriola said the landlord retained the original copy of the lease agreement and failed to provide a copy to Bence within 30 days following the contract’s execution. After occupying the apartment for one month, Bence had to go on an off-island emergency trip.
“[Bence] made numerous attempts to locate and advise the defendants of her situation. Unfortunately, the defendants could not be located nor was their office open or accessible for any and all potential inquiries from the tenants. Defendants intentionally made themselves inaccessible,” Arriola said.
Bence demanded that the landlord return her security deposit, but the latter refused, prompting her to file the lawsuit.
