Is it our responsibility toreimburse someone for utilities that were accidentally billed to them?
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Is it our responsibility toreimburse someone for utilities that were accidentally billed to them?
We received a letter stating that the company who manages the townhomes next to our home as been paying our electric bill since August 2005. It also states that we owe them over $7,000. We called the electric company for an explanation of what happened and someone from their company entered our address into their account. Should we contact a lawyer to represent us?
Asked on February 23, 2011 under Bankruptcy Law, Minnesota
Answers:
M.T.G., Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
Well I think you may need one to negotiate the bill if the statute has not run. And even if it has run on some level it may be tolled (extended) if they only just discovered the mistake. Did you not notice that you were not being charged for electric? For almost 6 years? And you never inquired as to what was going on? I do not think that you are going to have much of a defense here if they choose to sue you. Think about it. The law is not going to allow that you be unjustly enriched and allow the townhouse managers to be unjustly burdened by having to pay out the funds on your behalf. It just does not work that way. Good luck.
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