Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  08/15/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Good afternoon - We recently purchased a home in the Shipley Farms HOA. During closing, we were informed that we would need to make an annual payment of $1200 for water and sewage to Severn Utilities LLC. About a month or two after we moved in, we received a statement from Severn Utilities, LLC. It showed a breakdown of dates, fees and invoice numbers as well as an overdue balance of $2544.00 We noticed that the balance, was a carry over from the previous owners and tried to contact Severn Utilities to have the statement updated. I called multiple times, left voicemails and still have not heard anything back. I did some research via Google and couldn't find any helpful information that would help locate someone who runs the business. As a last resort, we reached out to the HOA Facebook group for assistance. Our neighbors have also had a difficult time reaching this company, but the company continues to cash everyone's $1200 checks. We wrote a check for $1200 and reached out to our title company to have the previous owners pay their carry over balance. We were told that the previous owners paid their balance. We received another statement on 7/2/22 indicating that our account was still delinquent $2544 in spite of the company cashing our $1200 check. To date, no one from Severn has returned my phone call. We have no idea what the $1200 goes towards because we do not receive an itemized invoice. From an internet search, this company does not seem legit and several homeowners are having the same problems. What prompted the complaint is that we received a quarterly water bill from WSSC when we just paid $1200 to Severn Utilities for an annual sewer and water bill. I would like to know if this is a legit company. I would like to receive itemized invoices and/or statements and I would like for the contact information to be updated for quicker resolution. If this is not a legit company, I would like for our $1200 to be reimbursed and legal action pursued.

  Business response

  09/16/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2022/08/26) */ Re: Case # 36193257 ***** ****** Ms. ****: I am in receipt of your complaint letter dated August 16, 2022. Unfortunately, there has been no-one in the office until yesterday since it arrived so I am just now responding. We are a water and sewer assessment collection company and the customer who made the complaint lives in one of the communities we service. We did receive a $1200 annual payment on July 8, 2022 and their account was credited for that amount. The water and sewer assessment is attached to the property and is due by the property owner on an annual basis and runs for 23 years. The 2021 payment that was due July 1, 2021 was never paid by the previous homeowner and the title company handling the sales transaction mistakenly did not request balance information which would have included 1% per month late fee. This should have been collected from the previous homeowner, prorated to the day of settlement by the title company and sent to us. Unfortunately, we know nothing about a transaction until we receive a balance request from a title company and since we did not receive anything from this title company, our only source of contact for the debt is the current property owner. The debt is still due, but the current homeowner should contact the title company who handled the transaction to get this rectified and collect the past due amount from the previous homeowner. Our correspondence is primarily via mail and email. Sincerely, Bill ******** ***************** Consumer Response /* (2000, 13, 2022/09/06) */ Missed the deadline due to being out of town. I am satisfied with the response from the business. Thank you for your help!

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