Utiltiy Notice of Intent to lien my property for tenant's unpaid bill in another city

[wolftree]

This reminds me of the old Lilly Tomlin Telephone Operator skit where she always said, " we're the phone company, we don't care."

 

[xtn]

South Park - Cable Company Stuff (clip) - YouTube

 

[300UGUY]

If you want another shock... try building a single family home.

Fee for water meter hookup is $23,000

Is that including sewer? I have a rental property, and the permit to hook into the water line was 5K. The contractor fees, that must be done by a licensced contractor, and inspected by the authorities, will easily top 5K, including about another $500 in inspection fees. So a water hookup here is over 10K. Sewer is about the same, so water and sewer would go 20 to 25K.

 

[ultrarunner]

I'm not lawyer but here you have a hard time filing a lien without a capital improvement having been done. I know the power company gets shafted a lot too, they are pretty aggressive removing meters if bills get behind, even from people on ventilators etc.

Best I can figure is the government agencies have different rules than companies.

Waste Management has a real sweet deal here... any bill not paid 10 days after the quarter closes is PAID by the city... the city then sends out a collection notice with a $75 administration fee... if that is not paid... a lien is placed on the property.

A title company will literally call the city and request confirmation the Waste Management bill is current... we also have a mandatory garbage ordinance... even on vacant improved residential... so you will pay one way or the other.

 

[ultrarunner]

That doesn't make any sense.

The original unpaid amount happened at a property you didn't own. Somebody owns that property though after your tenant left it. Why aren't they responsible for the late bill instead of you?

If your renter now moves out to another landlord's property without paying the water bill at yours, can you tell the utility to go talk to their next landlord?

The property with the unpaid balance was owned by my tenant and it was foreclosed and nothing showed on title at that time.

It was almost a year later when her unpaid bill at the home she previously owned caught up to her and was added to her current water bill at the property she rents from me... she didn't not have the money to pay for it so the Municipal Water company sent me a certified letter of Intent to Lien... I called her and she paid it... which I'm sure is exactly what the water company intended...

 

[ultrarunner]

What confuses me is if they had a lien already against them, why did the water company allow them to open a new account at a different location? Then I'm wondering who is responsible for the bill if they had moved to a home or apartment outside the water districts jurisdiction? Did you ever contact a lawyer or just rely on what the water district told you?

Eddie

She paid the bill in full by cashing in her vacation pay at 50 cents on the dollar.

At the time she moved... the bill at the home she owned was never paid or closed out... so not at the lien stage.

I don't know why they opened a new account... in Oakland when she had a open account in San Leandro?

My guess is there collection department did some research and found she was still a distric customer... took a year for the bill to catch up with her...

When it was added to her current bill... she stopped paying all together.

The foreclosure also resulted in a divorce... she said her husband was supposed to close account the utility accounts at the house that they both walked away from and he didn't...

 

[Deerherd]

What confuses me is if they had a lien already against them, why did the water company allow them to open a new account at a different location?
Eddie

The operative word here would be foreclosure. When that happened the utility falls so far down the list of creditors they have no chance of collecting, especially with a government loan. The reason they let them sign up for new account with an outstanding bill is to be able to "attach" the old debt to a new property in good standing.

It worked, they got paid!

 

[ultrarunner]

Ya.. doesnt make sense at all. When my tenants leave w.o paying the bills, I am not charged or even told, much less have a lien placed against me. There would be absolutely no way I would let one be placed simply cause my tenants owed. As soon as I saw that notice I would have filed a suit against them. The lien, if placed, should have been placed on the property that was foreclosed on.

Yes... but the water company was too slow to act and it was foreclosed without any liens and by then it was too late... so the water company eventually went after her a year later because they missed their opportunity before foreclosure.

 

[ultrarunner]

Is that including sewer? I have a rental property, and the permit to hook into the water line was 5K. The contractor fees, that must be done by a licensced contractor, and inspected by the authorities, will easily top 5K, including about another $500 in inspection fees. So a water hookup here is over 10K. Sewer is about the same, so water and sewer would go 20 to 25K.

Right from their website... (City and country fees not included)

The cost to install a 1" meter for Dual Service at a 3/4" domestic demand to serve a single-family residence under paved conditions would be calculated as follows:

$5,963 Installation Fee

$15,580 System Capacity Charge (SCC Region 1, 3/4" Domestic Demand)

$1,385 Wastewater Capacity Fee

$38 Account Fee
___________________

$22,966 Total

 

[mikehaugen]

Right from their website... (City and country fees not included)


$22,966 Total

but you said $23,000! This is more reasonable I think :laughing: