The estimated monthly gas bill on leases signed by two sets of former Ohio State students was $50 a month, a total they could afford.
But when Rachel Dawson and Leigh Luckner moved out of their apartment at 12 E. Norwich Ave., they received a bill for $1,663 in unpaid gas bills from NorthSteppe Realty, owners of the building.
Twenty months into their lease for an apartment in the same building, Bridget Bonaventura and Amy Johnson received a bill for $1,669 for unpaid gas bills.
On Sept. 6, the four filed a lawsuit against NorthSteppe claiming the realtor deliberately underestimated the monthly gas bill, that there was only one thermostat in the multi-unit building and they had no control over the temperature.
The women are looking for others who have had problems with the realtor and plan to prepare a class action lawsuit against NorthSteppe, which owns and rents several properties surrounding campus.
Paul Wilkins, the attorney representing the group, said his clients want double the amount they were billed by NorthSteppe and attorney fees.
The lawsuit states the plaintiffs reasonably relied on the defendant’s representations that the budgeted amount for utilities had been determined, and was based on past usage.
Wilkins, who is with the Student Housing Legal Clinic, said the women complained to NorthSteppe several times that the heat was too high.
In the lawsuit, Wilkins wrote NorthSteppe “generally targets university students who tend to be transient and seldom have the resources to pursue litigation on an individual amount.”
Wilkins also said he believes NorthSteppe understated the gas amount to make the rent more attractive. The lawsuit states: “The market for rental apartments in the neighborhoods surrounding The Ohio State University is a competitive one, and the defendant intentionally set its total rent at an attractive amount.”
NorthSteppe issued a response to the lawsuit and maintains no wrong-doing.
Doug Graff, a NorthSteppe attorney, said the realtor charged students only for gas that was used and had to be paid for by his client. He added the cost for gas depended on the size of the apartment in the building.
Graff said he has never been in the building, but believes there was a way for the students to control the heat setting.
“I don’t remember anything in the lawsuit saying they couldn’t control their own heat,” he said, adding if they couldn’t, that would be unusual.
“You can estimate how much gas a building will use, but you can’t estimate the cost of the gas,” Graff said.
OSU’s Student Housing Legal Clinic and Moritz College of Law have joined together to file the class action lawsuit against NorthSteppe.
Wilkins said anyone with similar problems should contact the Student Housing Legal Clinic at 247-5853 for free advice and representation.
Ashley Bass can be reached at [email protected].
