Landlord sued over water issues
Published 1:42 pm Wednesday, December 23, 2015
CHESAPEAKE — A Chesapeake woman is suing a Huntington landlord, after she alleged the property she has been renting has lost water service after the rent was paid.
Rhonda Jones said she has lived on property on a Private Drive in Chesapeake for 12 years, 10 of which the lot was owned by landlord Ramona Hall.
Jones said although utilities were included in the rent, she and other tenants lost their water service allegedly due to unpaid bills on the part of the property owner. The meter covers multiple residences, she said.
A summons was issued to Hall and Tina Mills to appear in Lawrence County Municipal Judge Donald Capper’s courtroom on Dec. 9, but they did not appear then or at two other show cause hearings, the most recent being Monday.
On Dec. 15, there was a hearing in Capper’s courtroom where the judge ordered the defendants to provide running water to the plaintiffs. At a Dec. 16 hearing the court was informed by a plaintiff’s attorney that the water had been turned on.
Jones said that her attorney through Legal Aid, Mark Cardosi, of Portsmouth, has worked with the water company to get service turned on, though tenants have had to pay the water company, Aqua America, while still paying the rent, which she said is now going into escrow.
She said the residence allegedly also has not had garbage collection for two months and that the sewer account was allegedly last paid in February 2013.
Attempts to reach Hall and Mills were unsuccessful Tuesday.