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We are living in NY and we were renting out a house in Nova Scotia that my wife inherited. The first tenants were there for two years from Sept 1, 2014- to Aug 31 2016. Everything worked out until they said that they wanted out by August 15th 2016 two weeks early, so we let them out and gave them their damage deposit back as there was no damage.
A second set of tenants move in Sept 1st, 2016 to August 31st 2018 and we sell the house three months after they move out. Closing was on Nov 30, 2018 and our lawyer infromed us that the utility bill between September 1 2018-to the Nov closing was $132, so we paid it. Then the lawyer said that the utility company sent over another bill on the closing date for $208 and said that this was from the previous tenants who owed from July 1st -Aug-31st 2016, who left two weeks early and never paid.
The utilities said that since we put the utilities back in our name for the last half of Aug as we were travelling to Nova Scotia and would be using the power that it is on us. We received no bill from the utilities company in the last two years, but they claimed that they sent it and we just didn't pay. The new tenants put the utilties in their name Sept 1- 2016, so it was in our name for the last two weeks of Aug 2016.
We paid the $132 that we owed from Sept 1 - Nov 31st 2018 and I asked the lawyer to hold off on what the tenants skipped out on which is from July-Aug 15. The tenants are loooong gone and we are left paying their bill since the power was in our name from Aug 15th 2016- Sept 1 2016.
The Nova Scotia utility company refused to split up the bill and go after the tenants even if they had their addess, so they go after whoever they can
Everyone said to just not pay it as the house is legally gone and we live in the US, but I read on the net that some utility companies will go after the new owners and will consider it a "property thing" and not an account # thing.
There is no way to ask the lawyer due to the cost of the advice, so there is no way to know what the utlitiy company will do if we do not pay.
The question I have is will they really go after the new owner's who have nothing to do with what happened???
it depends if they are a municipality or not . landlords are held liable for unpaid water bills in most localities because as a municipality the water is part of the building. certain localities may do the same with other utilities
The utility has to collect the tenant's bill from the tenant. If it was not in your name for the period they are billing you, it is not your bill. Pay the portion you owe and move on.
not always true , especially when it comes to water sewer bills a tenant accumulated .
as far as nova scotia i am not sure what the story is there but nova scotia does have an automatic service for landlords . it makes the landlord automatically not responsible for bills once a tenant moves in and switches the bill back when the tenant disconnects . but you need to sign up .
it sounds like they can normally hold the landlord responsible for unpaid bills from the wording .
it specifically says by participating:
" Automatic Landlord Program
This program provides your rental property with year-round, continuous service. You don’t have to contact us each time a tenant moves in or out. Once your property has been set up under the program, you won’t be charged service connection fees or be responsible for a tenant’s outstanding balance."
The utility has to collect the tenant's bill from the tenant. If it was not in your name for the period they are billing you, it is not your bill. Pay the portion you owe and move on.
not always the case ! it varies state to state and nova scotia ain't even in america .
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