SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — A small Memphis property management company is fighting thousands of dollars in utility bills from MLGW at homes they say were disconnected from service months ago.
Matt Wallace and his company MAS Properties have been receiving MLGW bills on vacant, disconnected properties. First, one property on Vinton Avenue was billed for nearly $600 dollars. After weeks trying to connect with the utility company about the issue, he learned the truth.
“Finally, we were told that these were all estimated bills. Nobody was actually going out to read the meter. And to make it right, they would have to send somebody out, but they could not tell us how long that would take,” Wallace said.
On Thursday morning, Wallace and his company got another bill for a different, disconnected home. This time totaling $1600 dollars.
“This property has no power. No water. Nothing,” said MAS Properties Accountant John Flowers.
Worse yet, because all of the company properties were in one registered account, they say MLGW refused to turn the power on at a third location until the supposedly owed payments were made. Thieves then broke in and stole the washer, dryer, furnace and A/C units, a $20,000 value.
“Now, we’re going through the process with insurance to try to recoup what we lost. But if we had the power on, we’d have had the alarm system on. So, it’s been pretty much a nightmare,” Flowers said.
Wallace said MLGW has reached out again to try and make the issue right since his Facebook post on the issue went viral, but he’s thinking about all the other people whose bills the utility may be simply estimating.
“At some point in time, there has to be some accountability with the people of Memphis that they’re hurting by doing this,” Wallace added.
The company did not respond to a request for comment by ABC24 on Thursday.
“It’s just a sad state of affairs that we can't have a better-run organization than what we’re getting in Memphis," Wallace said.