BrickUnderground

Two maintenance related questions -- just got my August maintenance bill -- stuck under my door, like usual (so you have to be home to get it) and there was a charge labelled "Jan. 09 mtc" -- for about $50 ... with no further explanation. Four calls later, the management company called back saying "didn't you get the letter last fall saying we'd charge in August for the upcoming January increase?"

Is this a standard practice? What about people who bought since last fall? And with so many errors these days in billing, should management companies add charges without explanation and can they charge so many months later (what if someone did buy over the last few months -- are they responsible for January mtc charges?).

2nd question -- our bills come right before the first of the month, leaving little time to write checks and mail them -- and have no due date on them -- my neighbor just got a late fee ... is there some sort of standard policy in NYC for how long owners have to pay upon receiving a bill? I pay online and the PO Box is a 5-day (rather than 24-hour) type so checks never can reach them that quickly and that assumes people are around to pay that very day ...