One former tenant says his landlord charged him almost $2,000 for work on his old apartment. Then he got the contractor’s own invoice, and the actual fee was just $907.
That kind of gap is at the heart of a $19.25 million class action settlement announced October 20 between Essex Property Trust and former tenants who claimed the company withheld security deposits in violation of state law. The deal awaits court approval.
Yahoo Finance reported the details in a story on the California landlord’s $19.25 million settlement, drawing on coverage from the Times of San Diego.
$907 Work, A Nearly $2,000 Charge
The former tenants also claimed they were charged for work done by third-party contractors without ever receiving invoices. In the case of the man above, once he got the bill straight from the contractor, he found the real cost was $907, not the nearly $2,000 Essex had charged him…