Runoff utility question... who is responsible?

Question

Good Evening ALCON,County has brought up to attention a water issue at one of our properties. My partner and I took possession of the property late October 2020 and water utility company just went up today (JAN 6, 2021) to check on the meter for the owner switch-over. Utility company noticed a usage of 80,000 gallons from late October 2020 which was out closing date thru JAN 6,2021 resulting in a $2,000 bill (landlord pays utilities). While speaking with the tenant, she mentioned that the toilet was always running water unless she opened the rear lid and pushed the seal IN to stop the water runoff. Apparently, this is an issue that was present prior to us taking ownership of the property. I'm not trying to point fingers as the previous owner might not be aware of this issue. However, the tenant was aware and never brought it to attention (she should've been proactive about it).My end goal is to figure out a way of getting away from this bill or at least partially as neither of us were aware of the situation nor we had access to the property because they were all occupied and COVID concerns. Property is located in Frostburg, Maryland (Allegany County).

Bjorn Ahlblad · Answer

@Jean Castillo You can't expect a tenant to bring that kind of situation to anyone's attention; tenants think water is free and why would someone care? The way you find out about this stuff is you look at the bill monthly, and you check this stuff when you inspect. Consider yourself lucky the utility company noticed. Your only hope for remediation would be if they cut you a break-and they might if you ask nicely.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

First, you shouldn't be held responsible for the period it was in someone else's name. You had no ability to monitor, so I would expect the other person to take responsibility for that period. But that only covers half the bill.Second, the city will usually give you a credit for sewer costs if you claim the water was due to a leak.Third, your tenant should be educated on how to report flushing/running toilets and the amount of water it can use. I've seen a single toilet cost hundreds in one month.

Adam Azam · Answer

To get more information I would speak to a local company that replaces or relines sewer laterals from the house to the sewer and they should be able to tell you from their experience which municipality does what.

Theresa Harris · Answer

I'd talk to the tenant and let them know if there is a problem, they have to let you know. Explain to them that the toilet running for a few months is now costing you $2000 and you would have happily fixed it had you known.You should have been able to switch the water over as soon as you closed. It is unfortunate that the water company didn't let you know about the high usage. We had a leaky toilet flap once and they called me after they couldn't get hold of the tenant and we were able to fix it.Did the inspector not notice it when they inspected the property during the purchase?

Jean Castillo · Answer

@Jonathan TavarezThanks Jonathan. As of right now, there is a utility relief program that we are planning on taking if the pardon doesn’t work out. City basically takes over 50% of the excess and us take care of the bill plus the remainder 50%. It helps but still sucks. I will post again the final say on Monday which we should be meeting with city.

Jonathan Tavarez · Answer

Talking from personal experience there is probably not much you can do, reach to the county, explain the situation and see if they will lower the unpaid balance. Legally there is no liability for the tenant, same for the previous owner. In one of my properties something similar happen, we even proved that the issue was the water meter and after almost 3 months of back and forth, many many calls and crazy frustration the county gave us some credit and we had to pay almost the entire bill ($850 plus almost $400 extra for plumbers to check potential water licks from the main line and toilets). Best of luck!

Jean Castillo · Answer

@Bjorn AhlbladBjorn, Thanks for your response.Yeah I understand that. What's messed up about the situation is that we didn't had the utility switched over to us (new owners) at the time and didn't had a way of tracking water usage at the property. Utility took almost 3 months to switch the bill over to us. We will talk to the city tomorrow and see what we can do about it. Hopefully asking nicely helps out our situation.

Jean Castillo · Answer

Bjorn,Thanks for your response.Yeah I understand that. What's messed up about the situation is that we didn't had the utility switched over to us (new owners) at the time and didn't had a way of tracking water usage at the property. Utility took almost 3 months to switch the bill over to us.We will talk to the city tomorrow and see what we can do about it. Hopefully asking nicely helps out our situation.