Legal Question in Consumer Law in California

Hi,

I need help regarding a recent water bill correction we received from our city. They state that our water meter was registering usage correctly, however, the water meter transponder was not transmitting the correct usage. Upon discovery and correction of the problem in Dec 2015, they adjusted our account to reflect additional billing charges for the water usage that was not billed due to the transponder malfunction. They state that the rebilling is authorized under California Code of Civil Procedures Section 338(d). They claim that this code stipulates a 3 year statute of limitations beginning from the date of discovery for seeking relief by the aggrieved party resulting from such errors.

My questions are:

1. The mistake was on their side - am I liable for this?

2. The adjusted bill shows that the transponder error started over 6 years ago in October 2009. However, they only discovered the error in December 2015. Due to the 3 year statute of limitations, they claim they cannot charge us for the first 3 years of under billing and are only charging us for the last 3 years (Dec 2012 - Dec 2015). Given that the error started over 6 years ago and the error was not discovered within the original 3 year statute of limitations period - has statute of limitations run out?


Asked on 3/30/16, 3:14 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

1. Of course you are. There wouldn't be a statute of limitations for taking action to correct the error if people were not liable for the other party's error.

2. Actually, they are being generous to you. A limitations period that does not run until the cause of action is discovered is not a limitation on how far back you can go. It's a limitation on how long you have to take action after the cause of action is discovered. As long as they assert their claim, and sue if necessary, within three years of December 2015, they COULD claim all six years. Be glad they're not doing that, since the statute of limitations will not run out until December 2018 on the FULL six years of underbilling.

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Answered on 3/30/16, 3:26 pm
Carl Starrett Law Offices of Carl H. Starrett II

1. You used the water, so you are liable...IF there was a mistake. You should demand proof of the mistake.

2. If there truly was a mistake, each month of underpayment is a new claim. The probably could go back longer than 3 years because they didn't discover the claim until recently, but they can ask their own attorneys about that. So collecting from December 2012 forward seems legal to me.

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Answered on 3/30/16, 3:26 pm


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