Residents claim they're being charged hidden utility fees after apartment flood in NOMA

WASHINGTON — It’s been nearly two weeks since the massive flood at Cielo apartments in DC’s NOMA neighborhood. Residents told WUSA9 on Wednesday it’ll be three months before repairs are made. 

Some residents told WUSA9 they are still waiting for help and others are waiting for answers from management on whether they’ll have to shoulder the extra expenses caused by the flood.

On Aug. 22, a valve on the 12th floor caused a massive flood at Cielo apartments leaving several residents out of their home and others in the dark. 

Tenants called WUSA9 for help after they claim they were offered no help or transparency.

“We’ve asked a lot of questions and a lot of the times we’ve just been ignored.” Kylee Barton, a resident said. 

Since the flood, fans, and dehumidifiers have been running non-stop. Residents fear they’ll be responsible for an increase in electricity and water charges.

WUSA9 spoke to LCOR, the company that manages the apartment complex. A spokesperson told WUSA9 the company is assisting residents on a case by case basis and some residents will be allowed to break their lease or move to another unit.

"Relocation is available for the displaced residents on a temporary basis while they wait for their prior apartment to be repaired, or it may be permanent if they prefer to only move once. Residents are not being penalized on rental rates and LCOR is working with impacted residents to assist them with the moving process. For select residents that have been impacted and their homes are severely damaged, we have offered to let them move out altogether. Residents will not be charged higher common area utilities due to the impacts of the flood or equipment."

However, residents like Barton tell WUSA9,  that’s not good enough. They want to see a breakdown of utility charges and, getting a copy has been difficult.

“When we ask for specifics on the bills, from Conservice, we get placed in a loop between Conservice saying we need LCOR and Cielo to sign off and then they say Conservice can just give it to us.” Barton said, 

Residents told WUSA9 this is the third flood since the building opened in 2022, and every time their utility bills skyrocketed.

WUSA9 asked LCOR if they would be signing off on a breakdown of charges for residents, LCOR has yet to respond. 

“If the building is saying they won’t charge us due to the issues with the building we don’t know if that’s the case because they are not letting us see the charges themselves and we don’t know how they are coming up with them in the beginning.” Barton said, 

WUSA9 reached out to the Office of Attorney General. They said several tenants have called the office about utility billing concerns at Cielo and the OAG is actively working with residents. 

Any tenants that were directly impacted by the flooding are encouraged to report issues in their individual units to management, and if management is not responsive, they can contact OAG’s Office of Consumer Protection.

Consumers can submit a complaint to OAG’s Consumer Protection Division by:

DC Department of Buildings (DOB) told WUSA9 last week, it received several complaints as well. Tenants can submit DOB housing code inspection requests if they have unaddressed building conditions issues concerns.