JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A former property manager of Three Seasons Mobile Home Park on the Westside spoke with the News4JAX I-TEAM about the reason why tenants are getting outrageously high water bills.
Former Three Seasons Mobile Home Park Property Manager TeriAnne Werner said she first noticed water bill discrepancies in 2018, and when she looked into it further, she said she discovered water meters that hadn’t been read for years.
Werner said management at Moore Enterprises refused to fix the problem, and instead, she said they kept the money.
Werner said she can’t remain quiet any longer, saying Moore Enterprises, the company that owns the park, charged at least ten families outrageously high water bills while she worked for them in 2018 and 2019 for water that was never consumed.
“I mean, some of the ones that I’ve seen, like I said, they were $1,500, $1,700, over $2,000. And like, that’s just not right,” Werner said. “And obviously, there was a wrong being done. And when it was brought to the attention of the company, they just didn’t want to do anything about it.”
Werner said when she started looking into the discrepancies in water bills and the tenants’ monthly water consumption rate, she learned that the water meters on each mobile home weren’t being read at all, but instead only estimated by employees.
“And then when we actually got a reading on it, it had been years since the original meter had been read. So, when there was finally a reading, it made these huge $1700, $2,000 water bills for people,” Werner said.
Werner said she brought this matter to the attention of the owner.
“And the people that did have the high water bills, I tried to talk to them and let them know, like, this ain’t right, and the reason why your bills are being so high, is because for years, they estimated your bill,” Werner said.
Werner said she started changing out the actual water meters in question at Three Seasons Mobile Home Park, but she said Moore Enterprises refused to do the same at its other two Jacksonville mobile home parks Orange Park North and Americana.
“If we brought back a meter reading, and it showed like a really low meter reading. But the owners were aware that you know, there were 10 people living in the house, she would say, ‘Oh, well, that’s not a high enough water bill,’ and she would actually change the numbers, increasing the water bill, which was totally wrong, too,” Werner said.
According to Werner, she was fired from Three Seasons in 2019 after she refused to testify on their behalf in the case of a Navy veteran whom the News4JAX ITEAM interviewed last week. He fought Three Seasons for two years over his more than $1,400 bill and won.
“Something has got to be done to stop this,” Werner said. “This is crazy. "
Werner toldNews4JAX that Moore Enterprises lost that case because she refused to take the stand under oath.
“I told them, I was not willing to go into court and lie and say that they had been reading the water meter every month properly and this was just based on a water leak,” Werner said. “This is ultimately why I no longer work for the company. Because after I refused to go to court and lie for them, they came in and told me things weren’t working out and asked me to clear the office out.”
MORE | ‘Something is not right’: Mobile park home tenants demand answers after unusually high water bills
News4JAX has also learned that Three Seasons Mobile Home Park is still using TeriAnne Werner’s name on eviction notices.
We spoke on the phone with the company’s attorney on Friday and detailed these new accusations. He did not want to comment yet.
Three Seasons lawyers told News4JAX they are taking these allegations seriously and said they are conducting an inspection of the water lines of local tenant Kelly ONeil, a disabled veteran who has gotten two unusually high water bills from this mobile park. They said they have a third-party expert inspecting the water lines and are willing to reimburse ONeil if the problem is on their end.
If you were affected by a sky-high water bill at Three Seasons, the Americana Mobile Home Park, or Orange Park North, which are all owned by Moore Enterprises, the Jacksonville Office of Consumer Affairs is asking you to call 904-255-7198 to file an official complaint.