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HappyArtichoke7729 t1_jeapqn7 wrote

Tell them you'll decline, and remove it yourself.

This is just a rent hike in disguise, and will certainly increase every year.

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Index_Positive OP t1_jeaqsku wrote

They said it's a mandatory fee on top of increasing the water bill from $30/month to $40. This is in addition to a 10% rent increase. I get they want to increase rent but shouldn't that cover this kind of thing.....

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fltlsyko t1_jeasqoi wrote

Are they allowed to bill you like that for the water...? Like, unmetered? My Veolia bill is never more than $30.

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Index_Positive OP t1_jeayagb wrote

I just assumed it was a JC high-rise thing....not that we have a choice anyway

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needfulsalsa t1_jeayhqh wrote

I am charged for water trash and sewage separately and a mandatory conservice monthly fee

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HappyArtichoke7729 t1_jearmoo wrote

Tell them you will do your own trash. Tell them again. Make yourself a huge pain in their ass. Be the squeaky wheel.

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selfpropelledcity t1_jebtbyi wrote

You, as renter, don’t pay the water bill. Just your rent. And if you have your own thermostat, you may pay your own PSEG bill. The other charges are BS

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mherring23 t1_jeccoqr wrote

I live in VYV and this just happened to me lol

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Blecher_onthe_Hudson t1_jeb840q wrote

Jeez, what's next, an elevator toll? I get the manager's impulse to shift costs off the rent so your advertised rent is lower, but there's gotta be limits, otherwise this is going to be a race to the bottom where every 'whole building' expense is a separate bill and 'rent' is just the start of your monthly housing expenses. The only time I've broken out expenses is with included heat and free laundry. It became clear apartment hunters were unable to do the math comparing that to units without.

That said, I've had the quarterly water bill in a 3 family top $700, so boy is it tempting to bill separately!

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Index_Positive OP t1_jebz6x4 wrote

Feels like they're taking tips from the airline industry.....

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ceeyell t1_jeb3a0k wrote

Definitely not. The only thing I pay in my JSQ building is rent to the landlord and electricity to PSE&G.

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gigiwasabi_jc t1_jec1vyo wrote

Is it in your lease? Or is it new / does the lease say you can be subject to surprise fees at any time? I’ve never lived in a high rise but it seems weird to sign a contract then have someone spring new charges on you. (I’m also clearly not a lawyer.)

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throwawaysad66535 t1_jegxtwg wrote

It’s obviously in the small print, especially if it’s a large corporation doing this.

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Aggravating_Lemon_32 t1_jeaqbxk wrote

Yes, ours does….I think it’s related to this. I may be wrong though

https://www.jerseycitynj.gov/news/new_solid_waste_fee_structure

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selfpropelledcity t1_jebszd6 wrote

That solid waste fee is the owners responsibility, not the tenant. And I’m a bldg owner with tenants. They pay rent and their PSEG bill. That’s it.

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Blecher_onthe_Hudson t1_jebxxzj wrote

I'm curious, at what point in the rental process are all these fees disclosed for services that everywhere else are simply built into the rent? If it's not in the listing it seems pretty shady to me. Apparently there's a lot about the hi rise renting world I don't know as a mom-n'-pop operator. I would be embarrassed to charge my tenants for taking the trash from the cans to the curb.

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Index_Positive OP t1_jebz12i wrote

I can only speak for high-rise buildings as I've never seen this sort of thing with smaller landlords. They will not mention these fees on their listings, but when you come for a walkthrough, they provide you with a sheet of all the potential fees, some of which are mandatory. I don't think they're even listed on their websites....

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Aggravating_Lemon_32 t1_jecsvc9 wrote

One of my friends lives in a building under Newport management and they get charged trash and water fee monthly separately from rent. It’s not listed on website but they mentioned it’s in their lease contract

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the_running_stache t1_jeee7nj wrote

Yes. Not in VYV. Charged trash removal fee and water fee. However, it got added in the lease renewal contract. (It wasn’t added in the middle of an existing lease.) So, we had to “agree and sign” to these fees when renewing.

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Index_Positive OP t1_jef4xr7 wrote

Did they tell you anything about the upcoming construction?

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the_running_stache t1_jeg2x4w wrote

I am not in VYV.

They didn’t tell me about any construction. (I don’t have any construction across from me.)

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throwawaysad66535 t1_jegxohe wrote

Disguised rent increase

Similar to how hotels add mandatory resort fee so they can publish a lower room rate.

Forget whatever bullshit names they’re using to nickel and dime you. Just look at the total cost and that’s your true monthly rent.

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