Community Utility Billing Services (CUBS)

June 23, 2015

Community Utility Billing Services
PO Box 1530
Hemet, CA 92546-1530

Re: *****

Dear Customer Care Department:

I am in receipt of your letter dated June 1, 2015 regarding the alleged delinquent balance on my account. This will notify CUBS that this is incorrect.

My agreement with the leasing manager, Kara Buchman, is that my rent and utilities are paid on the 3rd of every month, as that’s when I receive my Social Security Disability check. Late charges that CUBS is continuing to accrue on my account are not only excessive and illegal, but also in direct violation of my agreement with Ms. Buchman.

I understand that Ms. Buchman explained my recent loss of long term disability benefits and the difficulty I’m having trying to pay CUBS before the 3rd of every month, as it recently demanded when I was told to start paying the utility bill directly to CUBS. She informed me that CUBS agreed to delete these late charges.

Additionally, my questions regarding exactly what I’m being charged for in regards to utilities have never been answered, even though I’ve been asking the same questions for years. Prior responses from CUBS and Ms. Buchman have been woefully inadequate.

Although the apartment manager told me at one time that she was in the middle of completing a review and audit of CUBS billing practices, she has refused to inform me of the results. My latest request in May of this year stated:

“And although I’m working on collecting information to prove that CUBS is over-charging for utilities, I haven’t been well enough to complete this task. Additionally, I’ll need you to provide copies of the bills for this building, so I can see exactly what I’m being charged for and how the charges are allocated. As I mentioned to you before, even though I’ve cut back on my water usage, my bill continues to climb.”

Since Ms. Buchman is refusing to provide this information, I am now requesting it from CUBS. Please see to providing this information to me as soon as possible.

I am also requesting an explanation of the increase in CUBS’ monthly service fee from $3.50 to $4.00, as well as what the service fee includes. I would like to know why I have to pay for a billing service chosen by the apartment manager when CUBS should be charging the apartment complex instead of me for this service. Fees for contractors such as CUBS should be covered in my rent. It’s an added fee for certain utilities that, for instance, I don’t have to pay to the electric company.

One of my neighbors informed me that CUBS charges an additional fee to make a payment online. This also seems like a questionable practice.

I think it’s interesting that CUBS is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau. In fact, its rating is an F. And there are other complaints similar to mine listed on the BBB website, including overcharging for water and its service fee.

I was unable to find very much information on CUBS through a Google search. Therefore, I am posting this letter to my blog at painkills2.wordpress.com, so that other people experiencing the same problems with CUBS and their apartment complex can find it on the internet.

Regards,

Johnna Stahl

cc: Kara Buchman, via email