Sorrento Bluff

Background:
Many apartments in Beaverton and Tigard utilize a third party for water billing services. In my experience, Viterra Energy was utilized at Sorrento Bluff and while I was there, Summer Creek Apts., as well. I used roughly the same amount of water on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis; yet I noticed striking differences in how I was billed (amount) between these two different apartment complexes. Most residents are unaware of these quantitative differences because you have to live at two separate complexes to notice numerical billing differences. They are not subtle.

First, up to last year, Summer Creek billed tenants for actual water use measured by a meter at the hot water line of the water heater in each separate apartment. Since then, new management switched over to a flat rate billing system. (Apparently, they had problems with Viterra Energy).

In contrast, Sorrento Bluff does not meter individual units. Instead, a single water meter tracks each building (four units each). According to long time resident Herb Thompson, Sorrento used to pay for water and sewer, so individual built-in water meters were unnecessary. Of course, new owners generally want more revenue per unit. Today, monthly water bills are still prepared by Viterra Energy, but pro-rated for each tenant at Sorrento based on building meter readings.

My water bills at Summer Creek in 2004 were as low as $10.00/month. In comparison, my monthly water bills at Sorrento Bluff were often in the low 30's- for the same individual use patterns. Viterra Energy processed the water bills at each separate location. How could I be billed 2X or 3X more at Sorrento Bluff for water I used??

One possibility is one of the four units in my building belonged to a water hog. I noticed my neighbor Pedro ran his dryer for hours at a time. He probably did a lot of loads too. In addition, the landscaping is automatically watered. I could never find a dedicated water meter for only the common areas (lawns). Therefore, it appeared tenants indirectly paid for Summer landscape watering. Once in a while, Viterra made a detectable water billing error. Getting Viterra to correct it was like trying to get action out of Congress (near impossible).

It would be nice if the owner (of Sorrento Bluff) would put as much money in upgrading the water meter system as he does in exterior physical improvements on the property. Apparently, fair water billing is not a tenant or landlord concern at Sorrento Bluff, as far as I know. I never heard about it being discussed while renting there.

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