Emporia attorney Michael C. Helbert is seeking damages against three out-of-state corporations on behalf of 16 Emporia residents who allege the companies illegally charged them for water and sewer services at Heartland Mobile Home Park.
Helbert filed suit June 14 in Lyon County District Court against two Florida corporations, American Metering Services of Sarasota, Fla., and American Power and Water Corp. of Oldmar, Fla.; and a Georgia corporation, GMG Properties of Kansas, whose resident agent is in Buford, Ga.
The three-count suit also alleges that none of the corporations are authorized to do business in Kansas.
It alleges that GMG Properties violated a contractual arrangement to provide free water to people living in the mobile home park, which is at Ninth Avenue and Graham Street.
Representatives of Heartland Mobile Home Park did not respond to calls for comment. Representatives for American Metering Services, American Power and Water Corporation and GMG Properties of Kansas could not be located.
The petition stated that GMG violated contractual agreements by attempting to collect money from Heartland residents for water and sewer services. GMG is accused of hiring American Power and American Metering to solicit money from the plaintiffs, and of using the U.S. Postal Service to collect water payments.
The suit accuses GMG of reselling water from the City of Emporia without authority from the city, and that it attempted to collect a 9 percent sales tax. Emporia’s sales tax is 6.8 percent.
GMG is not licensed by the state as a water utility, the petition stated, and the company is accused of breach of contract.
Plaintiffs have demanded return of all funds collected from them and other residents of Heartland for water service, but defendants have refused to comply.
“(The) defendants, and each of them, have engaged in false representations and have used the United States Mail for the purpose of obtaining funds under false pretenses,” the suit alleges.
The suit also alleges the defendants are not authorized to act as a utility, were never authorized by the City of Emporia to resell water and have no contract with the city to sell water. It also states that the defendants have no authority to impose sewer charges on citizens of Emporia.
The defendants’ actions, the suit states, constitute a misrepresentation to a material fact under the Kansas Consumer Protection Act.
The suit asks for a civil penalty of $10,000 for each violation made by the defendants against the plaintiffs per billing per plaintiff. It also asks for attorney fees and other relief the court may deem just and equitable.
Emporia City Attorney Blaise Plummer said the city is aware of the lawsuit.
“It is the city policy not to comment on pending litigation,” Plummer said. “The city is not involved in the court case you cited, however we are aware of the case since it involves the resale of city water.”
The city is involved with its own action against GMG Properties. On June 20, the Emporia City Commission authorized a lawsuit to force the company to clean up the mobile home park. Plummer said that a June 8 inspection of the property found discarded appliances, fire-damaged mobile homes, weeds, pooling of water and other conditions that were either unsightly or unsafe.
Plummer also said at the time that GMG Properties is not licensed to do business in Kansas.
The Kansas Department of Revenue has not yet answered questions regarding the state’s policy for handling and collecting the alleged 9 percent sales tax charges.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed by Helbert are Ramiro Lopez, Fani Torres, Adolfo Guzman, M. Ruth Campos, Saul Carrillo, Manuel Torres, Canuto Perez, Hernan Hernandez, Joel Mezquite, Anastacio Gonzales, Teodora Rangel, Horacio Negrete, Javier Vidales, Nicolas Zuniga, Eduardo Lopez and Ezequiel Centeno.
ddarbro (anonymous) says...
The residence of Heartland Park are now being charged a $4.51 per month administration fee on their water bills each and every month in addition to the cost of the water and sewer. This I was told is a contractual fee they have with Heartland Park and is being passed on the the residence who already pay taxes in the city of Emporia and wages to city employees to read water meters.
March 14, 2008 at 10:52 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )