Keep The Electric On
Donation protected
Hi, my name is Michael Anderson and I live in Forked River, NJ. The reason I made a go fund me today is to hopefully find a solution to my problem. Let me explain in a little more detail: My father passed away this year (2016) and the funeral expenses totaled $11,160.00 plus the grave opening cost of $1,275.00. The funeral expenses exhausted my savings and left my family and I in financial turmoil.
Back to the reason for my gofundme, the electric company has decided to burden me with an outstanding balance from a previous address that was never in my name nor did I know anything about it (...of which I lived in as a child and was never on the electric bill). Currently, I have my own house and the electric company decided to apply my deceased father's electric bill to my account; I was neither on the electric bill to begin with nor was I an owner of the house. I am only guilty of being my father's son because I had nothing to do with the charges incured. Unfortunately, New Jersey has a law that states that when you live in a house and benefit from electric services and the bill doesn't get paid and/or the person passes away (which my dad did), they can legally hold another person responsible that lived in the house and benefited from the service. The entire ordeal has been incredibly stressful and taking a toll on everyone that lives in the home.
I have already shelled out thousands of dollars to keep our electricity on but the electric company has been unwilling to work with me so that I can pay off the debt slowly. I have reached out to every organization, foundation, church, charity, congressman, senator, lawyers, board of public utilities, salvation army, big TV churches such as Joel Olsteen. I also reached out to the VA since my dad was a veteran hoping that there was something that they could do. I am in no way saying that I don't want to pay off this debt but the electric company is making it impossible for it to be affordable after such large expenses for my dad's funeral and also the cost of daily living. There has also been an extreme heat-wave recently in our area that would make it extremely difficult to be without air-conditioning.
In addition, my family and I have tried to work with the electric company but they are unwilling to do any sort of payment plan to pay off the debt for a bill that wasn't even mine. My sister tried calling them and stressed that there were children in the home and their exact words were, "I DON'T CARE." We have tried to solve this problem from every angle down to putting the bill in another family member's name but they cut me down each and every time saying that it's tied to the property and that as long as we live in the home there will be an outstanding balance that we are forced to pay in full despite the tragedies we have faced. They have no regard for anyone's well-being and despite our efforts to get this paid off in a way that's affordabe, they have been incredibly unfair and harsh.
I have approximately three days (due to the heat) to pay a lump sum of $5,000.00 just to keep the electricity on but that doesn't include the $3,000.00 dollars in supplier charges I will have to pay thereafter. Our family is in dire need of assistance and have received nothing but denials due to the dollar amount that is owed, and as a last resort, I am reaching out to you. Please help.
On Tuesday 08/24/2016 my electricity was turned off.
UPDATE: ***Thankfully, a friend of mine was willing to use his credit card so that the electricity in our home could be turned back on; however, donations are greatly needed so that I can pay him the $5000.00 back. Thank you for all of your help!
I have all documentation to prove what I'm claiming in my gofundme.
Back to the reason for my gofundme, the electric company has decided to burden me with an outstanding balance from a previous address that was never in my name nor did I know anything about it (...of which I lived in as a child and was never on the electric bill). Currently, I have my own house and the electric company decided to apply my deceased father's electric bill to my account; I was neither on the electric bill to begin with nor was I an owner of the house. I am only guilty of being my father's son because I had nothing to do with the charges incured. Unfortunately, New Jersey has a law that states that when you live in a house and benefit from electric services and the bill doesn't get paid and/or the person passes away (which my dad did), they can legally hold another person responsible that lived in the house and benefited from the service. The entire ordeal has been incredibly stressful and taking a toll on everyone that lives in the home.
I have already shelled out thousands of dollars to keep our electricity on but the electric company has been unwilling to work with me so that I can pay off the debt slowly. I have reached out to every organization, foundation, church, charity, congressman, senator, lawyers, board of public utilities, salvation army, big TV churches such as Joel Olsteen. I also reached out to the VA since my dad was a veteran hoping that there was something that they could do. I am in no way saying that I don't want to pay off this debt but the electric company is making it impossible for it to be affordable after such large expenses for my dad's funeral and also the cost of daily living. There has also been an extreme heat-wave recently in our area that would make it extremely difficult to be without air-conditioning.
In addition, my family and I have tried to work with the electric company but they are unwilling to do any sort of payment plan to pay off the debt for a bill that wasn't even mine. My sister tried calling them and stressed that there were children in the home and their exact words were, "I DON'T CARE." We have tried to solve this problem from every angle down to putting the bill in another family member's name but they cut me down each and every time saying that it's tied to the property and that as long as we live in the home there will be an outstanding balance that we are forced to pay in full despite the tragedies we have faced. They have no regard for anyone's well-being and despite our efforts to get this paid off in a way that's affordabe, they have been incredibly unfair and harsh.
I have approximately three days (due to the heat) to pay a lump sum of $5,000.00 just to keep the electricity on but that doesn't include the $3,000.00 dollars in supplier charges I will have to pay thereafter. Our family is in dire need of assistance and have received nothing but denials due to the dollar amount that is owed, and as a last resort, I am reaching out to you. Please help.
On Tuesday 08/24/2016 my electricity was turned off.
UPDATE: ***Thankfully, a friend of mine was willing to use his credit card so that the electricity in our home could be turned back on; however, donations are greatly needed so that I can pay him the $5000.00 back. Thank you for all of your help!
I have all documentation to prove what I'm claiming in my gofundme.
Organiser
Michael Anderson
Organiser
Forked River, NJ