Case Description

I have a 5 year lease for a premise to run a restaurant. The lease commenced April 2007. The lease states I pay 35% of the water bill. Water bill is shared with another restaurant next door and residential apartments upstairs.

Water bill comes every 4 months. The last bill of june 2009 was of the amount of $2,661.61 and my share was $931.56.

The landlord sent a letter of May 16 asking me tp pay the $931.56 and an amount of $1,497.18.
Landlord claims that I am reponsible for this latter amount which an increase of the last two bills of Sep-Dec, 2008 and of Jan-Apr, 2009. Landlord claims that he repaired something small fault in my resaturant washroom which he assumes is the cause of the increase in water consumption.

I replied landlord with a letter stating that since we started operating the waster consumption is abnormal and beyond the normal consumption of a restaurant of such size. We asked restaurants in the neighborhood and we have another location where we operate another restaurant of such size. Here, water consumption always stable and far less than this restaurant. Also, in our letter we indicated that there are swings in the metric readings. I told Landlord that water system in the whole building is defective. This corroborated by that fact that Landlord had fixed something with water in the building and asked us to shutdown water a few weeks before the last bill came.

So, I paid my share of the last bill of $931.56 and refused to pay the amount of $1,497.18.

In his letter of June 01, 09, Landlord tells that he could get an allowance around $1,800 from the City for his request to consider the last two bills. In this letter, he is demanding me to pay $ 850.18 whic the difference of $1487.18 and my share fo the City allowance of $637.00. I am still refusing to pay him.

Now Landlord is threatening to cancel the Lease if I don't pay within 15 days starting June 02,09.

I need help with this situation on what I can do.