Colorado residents say Thornton apartment complex suddenly tripled water bills

Several residents at The Meadows at Town Center apartment complex in Thornton say their water bills have tripled in recent months without clear explanation. Residents who contacted CBS News Colorado said they were speaking out after they unexpectedly saw water bills jump to nearly $200 per unit in the month of August, billed in September.

 "Something is not adding up here," said Andrew Anderson, a resident of three years at the complex.

Anderson, and neighbor Raina Perez, said they were both completely blindsided when they received higher-than-normal water bills at the start of September. Anderson said he didn't realize the sudden high bill until he went to pay his rent and saw the high number for the water bill.

"Surprise, surprise, they added another $200 bill," Anderson said.

Perez, who has lived in the complex for nearly four years, said she has never received a water bill anywhere close to the one she did last month. Both Perez and Anderson said their average water bill is around $50 per month. However, both received water bills above $150 for August.

"It went up by precisely 198%" Anderson said of his bill.

"This is kind of a ridiculous amount for it to go up so high. Not to double but to triple in price," Perez said.

Both residents say they are among a group of frustrated tenant who feel blindsided by the bills. Both said they attempted several times to contact the landlords and management to understand why the bill was so high.

"Consider the factor of the pool, sprinklers, Thornton city's water prices went up," Perez recalled the managers saying.

"But, it didn't seem to add up to me because the previous months' bills also had a pool and sprinklers active," Anderson noted, saying prior bills had never been that high.

However, Perez said she asked the managers of the property to provide a bill from the city that would prove the water bill was so high. She said the staff gave excuses as to why it could not be given to her.

Both Perez and Anderson said they continued to question the managers, asking to speak to corporate-level managers as well. However, they say they were told they could not be given a number for a regional manager to speak with.

CBS News Colorado called the office for The Meadows at Town Center in Thornton to ask why the water bills were so high for residents. A woman answered the phone, said managers were busy with future-tenants and took a call-back number. However, a manager never called back.

So, CBS News Colorado sent a reporter to the office to ask in-person. A front desk worker once again said that managers were still busy, and suggested the reporter wait outside for the manager to be free. The employee also declined to provide a phone number for a corporate-level manager.

CBS News Colorado's reporter and photographer waited outside of the office for more an hour. Around ten minutes before the office was set to close the office workers locked the door, got in their cars and drove away together.

Residents CBS News Colorado spoke with said that reluctancy management had to share information with reporters is the same pushback they have received as tenants.

"It was running around chasing each other," Perez said.

Both Perez and Anderson said they felt the high bills were not the fault of residents or the amenities the complex offers, but rather the landlords attempting to obtain more money to address maintenance issues outside of resident control.

They speculated that, if each resident received the same $150-to-$200 water bill, the complex would be bringing in more than $10,000 for one month of water.

Perez said she feels the residents may have to consider getting legal representation in order to further understand why the water bills were so high.

"I need a reasonable explanation as to why my bill is so high or else I am not going to pay it," Perez said.