The trench warfare between Blossom Apartments and JXN Water continues as they sue each other in the courtroom of U.S. Judge Henry Wingate.
This little scrum began when JXN Water Receiver Ted Henifin sued Blossom Apartments, LLC and its owner, Tony Little for $533,444 in unpaid water bills in August.
Little bought the apartment complex in 2018. JXN Water claims Little began making payments for water and sewer service under the account of the previous owner, Woodbine Road Partner, LP. The bill address was the apartments' physical address. Blossom allegedly fell into arrears of $113,000 by October 2020.
JXN Water stated Blossom only made seven payments, less than $22,000 between October 2020 and November 2022, when JXN Water assumed control of the system. Blossom made two payments in early 2023 but stopped paying from March 2023 to July 2024 as the balance continued to grow to $466,975.
The complaint claims JXN Water tried to contact the defendants without success. JXN Water cut off water service in July 2024.
Little emailed the Receiver and allegedly admitted he owned the complex and it was delinquent on its bill. He asked for a repayment plan and paid $57,000 in August 20204, thus restoring water service. However, Little allegedly did not make any more payments until July 2025.
Little finally established an account for Blossom in its own name, nearly three years after JXN Water took over the system and seven years after he bought Blossom.
Little fought back, filing a counterclaim in September. The counterclaim accused JXN Water of using "systematically improper billing practices that have caused substantial harm" while 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 accused JXN Water of failing to transfer the account despite "repeated requests."
Little claims the new meters installed at the complex in 2022 were defective and JXN Water refused to fix them as it allegedly issued bills under the wrong account names. Blossom charged JXN Water with retaliation by cutting off its water in July after it asked for corrected invoices.
The counterclaim charges JXN Water with negligence, breach of contract, and violation of due process while asking for damages for overpayments made due to billing errors.
Mr Henifin asked Judge Wingate to dismiss the counterclaim in a response filed Friday. The Receiver said Little "acknowledged" the past-due bills and agreed to a payment plan. The response accuses Little of using the payment plan to avoid paying his bill. The counterclaim is nothing more than an attempt to get out of paying its bill.
JXN Water argues it enjoys judicial immunity, thus the counterclaim should be dismissed. The Court created JXN Water as a receivership for the Jackson water system and "appointed" Mr. Henifin to operate the system.
The response posits Little also can't sue for breach of contract because he shows no evidence of a contract nor did he allege any facts of a breach.
Attorney Scherrie Prince represents Blossom Apartments and Tony Little. Attorney Malissa Watson of Forman Watkins represents JXN Water.
6 comments:
Is a counterclaim the same as suing?
The order does say he has immunity.
Many say Little is a grifter.
I wish someone would explain how an owner of the business can be sued individually. Does not the corporate shield apply to company's that consume water in Jackson? Or, are the owners required to sign the application?
The under-, non-, late-payments and straight piping has been well known and going on since at least Harvey Johnson's first term. The water system was never properly bulletproofed and rate/collections funded. The water system graft/corruption/incompetence fiasco is essentially Jackson's DNA.
I continue to be amazed how most towns and cities manage to do the basics like water and trash as a simple order of business, and yet Jackson mires itself into arguments, contract disputes, and lawsuits.
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