My leasing office is charging me for water are they allowed to do that?

[Anonymous]

I live in Maryland I have been living in my apartment for 4 years now I only pay rent and bge. When I got my rent bill this month I had extra charges on my bill for water, sewage, trash and pest control. I went to my rental office and they told me my lease renews every January and everyone has to pay for water, sewage, trash and pest control now and the bill I see on my rent is from February I never signed a new lease or agreement saying I would pay for those things on my lease it’s say are supposed to pay for the water, sewage, trash and pest control are they allowed to do this? They told me the notice was sent to my rentcafe account but I never received it or signed anything

[abc3643]

Double check with your "rentcafe account".
Also, have them show you when THEY sent the message to your account.

That's a receipt of sorts; it's evidence that they did what they said they did.
If they did send it and it did go to the correct "rentcafe account" (I have no idea what that is), then the burden is on you because you are responsible for getting your messages. However, if they sent it to the wrong account or did not send it at all, then you are free to either accept it or get out of your lease.

Find this out and then, if you feel you need to, talk to a lawyer.

[tesniolite]

I'm not a lawyer, so I can't give you legal advice. However, I can tell you that in Maryland, landlords are allowed to charge tenants for utilities, but they must give tenants written notice of the change in charges at least 30 days in advance. If you never received notice of the change in charges, you may not be obligated to pay them. I would recommend contacting the Maryland Office of the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division for more information. They can provide you with legal advice and help you resolve the issue with your landlord.

[Uannoyme]

Are you currently under a lease, or has the lease expired making you a month to month tenant? If you are under a lease and it does not state that you are responsible for these things, and there hasn't been an addendum, they can't just change the rules. If your lease has expired and you are now month to month, they can change whatever they want.

[gorydetails]

talk to a lawyer.