The showdown between JXN Water and the Tracewood Apartments will take place in Judge Henry Wingate's courtroom a week from today. WLBT's Anthony Warren reported:
JXN Water and the owners of a North Jackson apartment complex have a little more than a week to settle their dispute over $910,000 in unpaid water bills, or a federal judge will step in.
That’s according to U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate, who said on Wednesday he is prepared to rule in the matter but is willing to give both parties time to work out an agreement first.... For its part, JXN Water contends that Tracewood owes $910,000 in past-due water bills and has failed to abide by the terms of two payment plans to catch up on the amount. “They expect us to do without the revenue, and we’re not a bank. We can’t even borrow money. You can go to the bank and borrow money and get it on a different term. I can’t do that,” said Carla Dazet, JXN Water’s chief revenue officer. “I said we were not able to float the balance any longer.” David Benedikt, chief operating officer for Pineview Equity Group, Tracewood’s parent company, told the judge the company hadn’t received a bill in two and a half years. That aside, he said Pineview doesn’t have the cash on hand to pay the amount but is willing to work with JXN Water if it can get more time to pay off the debt. “We would like the court to understand the position that we are in, and to go into a reasonable payment plan, where we could fulfill our obligations and give us time to review the past bills that we just received,” he said.... JXN Water attorney Melissa Wilson questioned why Tracewood didn’t have the money when it charged tenants a monthly fee for water. According to Benedikt, tenants are charged $35 a month for water if they’re in a one-bedroom unit, $55 if they’re in a two-bedroom unit, and $75 if they’re in a three-bedroom unit. “If you know you’re using water and sewer services, and know you have to pay at some point in time, why didn’t the company put the funds away in an escrow account or other holding account for the day that you know is going to come?” she asked. “Can you provide the court with an accounting of the use of those flat-fee moneys?” Benedikt, who joined Pineview in January 2024, said all of the funds were used to benefit the tenants. “The company has a lot of obligations,” he said. “There [were] no profits that were taken at any point from anyone at the property.”.... Attorney Scherrie Prince, meanwhile, pointed to several billing discrepancies, pointing out that her client did not receive statements for some two and a half years, and that when Tracewood asked for statements, JXN Water wouldn’t provide them. She asked Dazet to read several emails backing up that point, including one from January 8, 2025, where Benedikt informed her that the company had not received bills, and that he needed help understanding how the bills were determined. Court records revealed that from December 2022 to at least May 2024, statements were being sent to Tracewood’s previous management firm, based in Illinois. Tracewood replaced that management firm in late 2022, but it’s unclear if the company ever notified JXN Water that a new manager had been brought on. Prince also referenced email correspondence from February 12, 2025, where Benedikt informed JXN Water that all of Tracewood’s 12 accounts were still not properly linked to the company’s email address, meaning he could not view them via JXN Water’s billing portal. “He put you on notice that he did not have access, and it was also your understanding that he was the decision-maker to resolve some of these, correct?” she asked. “They were still not able to get clear the billing situation all the way up to and through February 2025.” Dazet told Prince that it’s the property owner’s responsibility to ensure bills are going to the right address, and that she did refer Benedikt’s portal concerns to IT. However, she did not follow up to see if they were addressed. Rest of article.
Kingfish note: Even if Tracewood was not receiving a proper bill, it was charging residents for water service. It knew eventually it would have to pay a water bill and catch up on the months where the bill was not paid. From the manager's testimony, it appears Tracewood was robbing Peter to pay Paul.
21 comments:
Wingate takes on Tracewood-gate and JXN Water-gate.
How many thousands of residential customers didn't receive a bill, or received bills with grossly exaggerated estimates, but still owed what they had used AND paid the f'ing bill?
Judge Wingate owns the collections problem. This party with the past due apartment complexes is just getting started.
Apartment managers didn’t pay there bills how is that Jackson’s fault???
I used to live in Tracewood years ago. They did some sneaky stuff back then.
If the apartment received monthly or periodic billings, but just did not pay their bills, there should be no question as to the liability. I believe this has become another “I live in Jackson, I don’t have to pay my bills. I am entitled.” GETOUT of JACKSON” as soon as you can. I am extremely happy in a suburb north of Jackson.
Yeah, fairly shady accounting to not properly segregate the monies collected of the express purpose of providing water service. Sounds like they tried to take advantage of the unfortunate situation and I suspect it is about to backfire. The court can easily calculate the amount of monies collected vs. owed and see that it is reasonable. The tenants also have a case against Tracewood.
This is the way it is:
The tenants paid a monthly water bill to the landlord.
The landlord gets the money but doesn't pay Jackson water.
Jaskson water will never get paid by this landlord.
Bur it is society's fault. And ultimately the taxpayer's burden.
There are people in the penitentiary who did less.
What a shit show! I will say the previous property management company, as well as the current property management company also share in the problem. If I have a client move their business, and I still have 3rd party entities contacting me for their information, I inform the old client as well as whoever is requesting said information that I no longer service their account. Also, if I am managing a property, I am wondering where the utility bills are being paid. I would have raised a red flag after a while that I am not paying a water bill. That said, these people were not only not paying their bills, they were billing tenants to pay their bills. Where is that money? That money should not be comingled with general operating funds. I also agree Wingate along with Lumumba share a lot of the responsibility for this for pausing the billing. My opinion is the apartment complex and the property management company were going to ride this as long as they could then hopefully cut a deal. Kind of like commercial construction companies do to subcontractors...
This sounds like embezzlement on the part of the apartment owners, and at least a civil conversion.
I don't know what Judge Wingate will rule if nothing is worked out, but it certainly seems that parent company should offer to remit rather quickly the total amount collected from the residents for water, however much that might be. And if the parent company did just receive the bills, it should be allowed a reasonable time - 30 days or so - to review them. If a reasonable dispute is discovered, to have JXN Water either prove the disputed amount as owed or reduce its demand accordingly. And if the parent company cannot even remit the collected amount because they spent it elsewhere... shouldna not oughta done that.
Outright theft. Tenants pay monthly, but landlord keeps the money. I would guess at the size of this theft, maybe 10 years, but the landlord will at least receive free water although at limited times.
" Apartment managers didn’t pay there bills how is that Jackson’s fault???"
Simple answer 2:12 ... "Jackson" didn't cut-off the apartment complex's water service after non payment. This is 100 percent the fault of apartment management.
Now the poor residents who paid their water fees suffer.
Question:
Are there any apartments left in Jackson that remain functional ?
Three years after the ice storm and the Jackson water "crisis" remains.
Seems there's a new apartment complex with same water problem every day.
New "Mair" or not, JXN Water still smells like "Boo Boo".
Credit Kenny Stokes for the "boo boo" reference.
Watergate v2.0
At our church they didn't send us a water bill for at least 2 years but we knew we owed so we just kept paying them the amount of the last bill that was received. Jxn Water is not pure as the wind driven snow either. They will tell you there is a leak and your plumber checks everything and the meter isn't moving. Then you flush a toilet and it moves then stops again, and they refuse to send anyone out to check it out.
Tracewood knew they wouldn't get a
bill when they didn't put it in their
name. They bought it when the city
had the water. They own apts they
own the water bill. Why were they not
made to reveal what they did with the
money? The tenant only paid it for water. I bet it's in their lease it's for
water. That means they were not suppose to use it for anything else.
I don't understand how something can't
be done when he spent tenant water
money on something besides water.
Tracewood wants a two year payment
plan. They already defaulted on two
payment plans.
How many entities would let you slide a month or two if you didn’t pay your bill? All these stories of I never got a bill etc would evaporate if Jackson had cut off water to them after a month or two. Yeah they should have paid their water bill but hey, after a couple of years of inaction by the city they just let it ride…
The city owes almost as much as the
apt complexes combined.
It just seems like Wingate is grandstanding here trying to pay Solomon. Don’t drag this out when the landlord’s action and inaction are so obvious.
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