Water Bill Exceeds Escrow Amount Held
Few months ago, I purchased a property from a seller. At the time of closing, an actual water meter reading was not done and hence the water bill was based on an estimated reading. My attorney kept $250 as an escrow amount just in case the actual water meter reading came out higher. As it turns out, after doing the actual water meter reading few weeks ago, the water bill prorated to the time of closing comes out to $3300. Now I am kicking myself for not doing an actual water meter reading before closing. I am going to call the seller and RE agent to get this amount reimbursed. If this does not happen, what is my legal recourse and what are the chances that I can get this amount paid to me.
Thanks for your help
You'll likely have to sue. In some places water is not shut off and you can rack up water bills of several thousand dollars.
In my area the water is shut off right away for non-payment so the water bills never get too high.
You just paid $3300 to the school of hard knocks. Congrats on the education!
My guess is that if you push the issue the RE agent will pay to protect his/her name. GOOD LUCK
1. why wasn't the meter read for a couple months? it should be done a day or two before or after settlement, ideally the day of settlement
2. in some areas, water is supplied by the municipality and if it is, then it is lienable. in my area, water is supplied by a private water company but they would never allow a bill to get that high on a residence - that's why I'm thinking it might be municipal and then someone owes you (lawyer or title company who missed the lien)
Why was the bill so high? Did yoiu check to see if there was a problem? Also, if you chose not to do the meter reading that is on you and so not much to be done
I agree that your recourse is either through the seller or the title company/lawyer. If the water bill is a lien then the closing agent owes you (unless it wasn't recorded). If it's just an active bill then you need to send a demand letter to the seller right away with a deadline for payment (10 days). If the seller doesn't pay you immediately then file in small claims immediately. If the seller tries to pay you after being served then make him pay you your court filing fees as well before you'll drop the suit. Tell the seller in your demand letter that you will hire an attorney for this matter and that he will also have to pay your attorney fees and that may scare him enough to pay right away. If he still won't pay, don't hire an attorney- just go to small claims court and represent yourself. It's easy and should be an easy case in your favor. If the seller owns other property, your judgment will be a lien and you can foreclose on the other property to get paid or you can wait it out and get statutory interest on your judgment until it is paid. Plus the seller's credit will be ruined until he pays you- an added incentive to just pay up. You should be able to get this reimbursed one way or another- it might just be a bit of a pain.
Thanks for all your advice. Just as an FYI..The company that services water in our are does the actual meter reading only once in a while. Otherwise, our water bill is based on an estimated meter reading. The seller in my case bought this house in a foreclosure and he has being paying his bills based on an estimated meter reading. Its only when ithe house came to my possession that an actual meter reading was done. I agree that this matter should be pursued at the small claims court.
It's strange that there was not an actual reading when you called to switch the utilities. On second thought you might be able to get the water company to bill the previous owner for the deliquent amount since you are only liable for the time since the switch date. What is their response to this??