Deliquent Sewer Taxes
I just got a letter stating that there are deliquent sewer taxes on the property i closed on in feb 04... i bought the property with a tenant in there who moved out a month after closing in march bc he was on a month to month lease.... Apparently he never paid the sewer bill,,, Now the letter i get says that these unpaid sewer charges will be assessed the same way that prop taxes and will be a lien against the property.. They also sent me a copy of the letter they sent to this tenant notifying them of the past due amount,,, should i call this old tenant and make sure he pays? Im not sure how im responsible for that amount thats deliquent Because I only owned the prop for a month before the tenant moved out.... any thoughts?
Isn;t it nice to be a landlord?
I'd definately go after the old tenant, but you should probably pay the taxes as the lien is more trouble that it is worth. If it is recorded it will hurt your FICO.
You can always sue him in small claims court if you have an afternoon to kill.
mfparks,
Hello! I would say most likely the previous owners, not the renters, are the responsible party. You would be responsible from the date of your purchase UNLESS the title showed a "sewer" lien, in which case you inherited this lien and possibly others.
If there was no sewer lien, and one is now being applied to your property, the previous payments are not inherited.
If the tenant is actually responsible, as in an electric bill (read the agreement from the sewer company, not just the bill), then it's a tenant thing and your scott-free.
Alan
thanks... i will call the company that sent me the letter and see if the prev owner may be if nothing else partially responsible.. thanks for the thoughts
did you ever work this out?
Alan
When you went to settlement, was there not a sewer adjustment paid? Here, the title company makes sure the sewer is up to date -- it should have been paid by the seller if it was outstanding. Unfortunately you are going to have to pay it yourself (unless it was paid at settlement and you can prove that) and then try to recoup it from the tenant, if indeed your lease says he was responsible for paying it. If it says he was required to pay it, then you will have to find out where he's living and have a judgment (small claims court maybe?) placed against him, which will allow you to put a lien against his car or anything he owns. If it's not in the lease, or there was no lease given to you by the seller, then you should go after the seller for judgment. Liens attach to the property, not the person.
This is the reason that you NEVER EVER EVER have your tenant pay the water/sewer/lienable services directly. Any bill for service that is lienable (meaning nonpayment will result in a lien on the property) MUST come to you... you can copy it or create a bill that you send to the tenant and require payment back to you. YOU PAY THE BILL and THEY PAY YOU... this way you won't find out your property is up for sheriff sale because they didn't pay.
Hopefully this isn't too expensive a lesson learned.
bonnie in NJ :-(
Hey thanks for all the replies... I will definatly learn from this exp... I talked to the title comp and they called the prev owner who will be sending a check this week.. My current tenants have the water / sewer in their name... I think i will go put those in my name and do what was suggested and carbon copy them a bill and send it to them..... thanks again
Along with that... with multi units,,, say 10-15 units.. does the sewer and water bills go into the owners names as well, or does that work any differently? Just wondering