Laserfiche WebLink
Metadata
Document management portal powered by Laserfiche WebLink 9 © 1998-2015 Laserfiche. All rights reserved.
RELEVANT LINKS: <br /> <br />League of Minnesota Cities Information Memo: 6/22/2016 <br />Securing Payment of Utility Charges Page 18 <br /> <br />See Section XI-D-2: <br />Advantages of certifying <br />unpaid charges. <br /> <br /> <br />Minn. Stat. § 273.125, subd. <br />8. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />See Section XI-D-1, <br />Certification of delinquent <br />municipal water charges, <br />Manufactured Home Parks. <br />• If a park has only one shut-off valve for the entire park, a city <br />obviously cannot shut off the park to seek payment from one resident. <br />• Charges for an individual manufactured home owner cannot be <br />certified for payment with taxes because the home owner typically does <br />not own the land under the home and, thus, does not pay property <br />taxes. <br />• Pursuing a judgment for payment for utility bills in small claims court <br />is a way a city utility may seek payment for services; actually getting <br />the payment is often problematic. <br />• Certification of tenant’s delinquent utility bills against the park owner <br />is not settled law in Minnesota. <br />“The Manufactured Home <br />Parks Handbook”, Office of <br />the Minnesota Attorney <br />General (2005). <br /> <br />Minn. Stat. § 327C.04, subd. <br />2. <br />A park owner may provide utility service to the park residents, including <br />electricity, fuel oil, natural or propane gas, sewer and waste disposal, or <br />water service. If a park owner provides electricity to residents by reselling <br />electricity purchased from a municipal utility, the park owner may charge a <br />rate high enough to break-even but may not charge for administrative, <br />capital, or other costs. <br /> XI. Remedies for nonpayment of utility charges <br /> Nonpayment of any valid utility charge for water may trigger either a water <br />shut-off or certification of the delinquency to the county auditor for <br />collection with taxes if provided for in the city ordinance. A valid utility <br />charge includes, but is not limited to deposits, meter charges, connection <br />charges, flat rates, usage charges, penalties, and availability charges. There <br />are some limits to keep in mind when seeking payment of unpaid utility <br />charges. <br /> A. Possible limits on remedies <br />Cascade Motor Hotel, Inc. <br />v. City of Duluth, 348 <br />N.W.2d 84 (Minn. 1984). <br />A city cannot withhold utility service and demand that a new owner pay <br />delinquent charges incurred by the previous property owner before <br />providing utility services. <br />64 Am. Jur. 2d Public <br />Utilities § 46. <br />A.G. Op. 387g-7 (April 28, <br />1965). <br />Similarly, a city probably cannot make a consumer who is currently using <br />utility services pay outstanding delinquent utility bills left unpaid by a <br />previous owner of that same property. (The exception to this general rule is <br />that if the delinquent water bills are certified for collection with taxes <br />before the property is sold, the charges can be recouped. See “Certification <br />of delinquent municipal water bills,” discussed subsequently).