Jackson Jambalaya

 The battle to collect unpaid water bills from Blossom Apartments is turning into quite the slugfest. The apartment complex sued JXN Water in a counter-claim yesterday in federal court.  JXN Water sued Blossom and its owner, Tony Little, in August for collection of a water bill allged to be over half a million dollars. 

JJ reported on August 30: 

JXN Water Receiver Ted Henifin and JXN Water sued Blossom Apartments, LLC and its owner, Tony Little in U.S. District Court for unpaid water bills. 

Little bought the apartment complex in 2018.  The new owner "began making payments for water and sewage service.  The complaint alleges the defendants paid under its water/sewer account administered by the city of Jackson.  The account was billed to Woodbine Road Partner LP, the previous owner.  However, the bill address was the apartment's physical address. Blossom became "seriously delinquent in its bill by over $113,000 by October 2020 when the account was still administered by the city of Jackson. 

The complaint states Blossom made only seven payments, less than $22,000, between October 2020 and November 2022 when JXN Water assumed control of all water/sewer accounts.  

The delinquency continued through 2023 and 2024.  Blossom made two payments in early 2023 but stopped paying.  The defendants failed to make a payment on the utility bill from March 2023 to July 2024.  The balance Blossom owed was $466,975.  

JXN Water began trying to contact Little seeking resolution.  The attempts to reach the defendants allegedly failed so JXN Water shut off the water service to the apartment complex in July 2024. ...

Little emailed JXN Water on July 12, 2024 and allegedly admitted he owned the complex and that it was delinquent on its bill.  Little asked for a repayment plan.  JXN Water turned the water back on after Little paid $57,000 in August 2024.  However, JXN Water's success was short-lived as Little "broke the agreed payment plan" and did not make any more payments from September 2024 to July 2025. 

Little finally established an account for Blossom in its own name. JXN Water transferred the balance to the new account.    

JXN Water claims Blossom owes $533,444 in unpaid bills.

Blossom filed a counterclaim against JXN Water yesterday.  The counter-claimant accuses JXN Water of using "systematically improper billing practices that have caused substantial harm."  Blossom claims it tried to address the "billing discrepancies."  

The counter-claim claims Little tried to transfer the utility account from the previous owner but encountered "significant billing problems" with the city's billing system. Blossom accuses JXN Water of failing to transfer the account despite "repeated requests."  

Defective (allegedly) new meters were installed at the apartment complex in 2022. JXN Water allegedly refused to correct the errors. JXN Water supposedly issued bills under the wrong account names (probably the old ones). The counterclaim charges JXN Water disconnected water service in July after Blossom asked for corrected invoices.   Blossom accuses JXN Water of retaliation.   

The counterclaim charges JXN Water with negligence, breach of contract, and violation of due process. 

Blossom asks the Court to award damages and compensation for overpayments made "due to billing errors."  

Attorney Scherrie Prince represents Blossom Apartments and Tony Little. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate.