Landlord Illegally Restored Water Service

[sharkey]

[QUOTE=billy ross;539732]Bad idea. Judgments for non-payment of rent are worth at most pennies on the dollar. I've gotten hundreds of thousands of dollars of judgments against deadbeat tenants over the years and I don't think I've ever collected a single dime on them. It's just a mechanism to get possession of the unit back. I have a friend who has been a landlord for decades and he told me he'd sell all of his judgments for a cup of coffee. There's a business model there, I think. I'd love to collect something on my jugments, but when a person has no assets the best that you can do is to garnish their wages.

In addition, PGW's recent history is illustrative. When you're incompetent at collecting what is owed to you - as PGW used to be and Philadelphia's Department of Revenue still is now - you've got to be careful about coming down too hard on deadbeats lest you catch innocent parties in your net. Essentially, you've got to expect growing pains as you implement your newly strict regime. The Department of Revenue really is screwed up, and they make up all kinds of stuff that you supposedly owe them but in reality they just screwed it up and are confused. For instance, according to my accountant, he sent a check in for $3k, but they supposedly credited it to the wrong tax year, and it's been a real mess unwinding this. They had a $3k credit for future taxes and a delinquent balance of $3k plus interest and penalties. The latest story is that they finally credited the $3k to the appropriate tax year (2011, I think) but now they still want interest and penalties on a check that was paid in a timely fashion. When dealing with the Revenue Department, things need to be not only foolproof, but they need to be idiotproof too. Until they have some competence in that department, it'll be difficult to have draconian punishments without inviting lawsuits and political heat, as the gas company found out. Eventually protocols are put into place to protect the innocent, but it takes time and pain. The electric company has always run a tight ship. Now the gas company is running a tight ship. The water department, too, is trying to drag the water revenue bureau into competence, but it's like dragging a mule. As we know, the property tax collection system is still almost hopeless, even at this late date.[/QUOTE


I agree with the above. I've been slightly luckier with judgements. I collected a big chunk of one when a former tenant tried to buy a house. Collected a chunk of one in NJ when a former tenant declared bankruptcy (he had some assets, which were divied up among the creditors).

[#1MetsFan]

FTR, I used to mediate landlord-tenant disputes in Philadelphia's Housing Court. That is, landlord's filing eviction actions against deadbeat tenants -- policy of the Court is to ask the parties to try mediation before the judge will hear the case. Anywho, most of the landlords in Housing Court didn't have rental licenses, and it was never an issue. Tenants would raise it all the time, thinking it would give them some advantage, then the judge would say, "Do you have a lease? Did you stop paying rent?"

That may have changed in the last few years, though. I haven't done it since, I think, 2007.

[iheartphilly]

There's a flip side to this, something I had the misfortune to experience recently. When the LL uses the lack of a license to mean he/she can make up their own laws, are deadbeats themselves, & try to force tenants to live in unsafe conditions, the courts do not favor them. The judge in my case came down hard on my LL & ruled in my favor to the tune of several thousand dollars. My life was turned upside down because of the actions of my LL & it's unfortunate that too many people feel that the LL is always right.

[cjPhilly]

Now I need you to answer a question that's been bothering me for awhile. How do I find the block code if I don't have access to the water bill or a neighboring property's bill? Is that from the BRT/OPA?

Also, how much does your landlord owe? It takes awhile for that number online to update after a payment. Of course, if the bill is paid on time as it's supposed to be, there is no huge number that builds up.

Edit - it's not the OPA number. How did you find the block code pretty easily? That'd make things easier for me if I could just conjure that up.

For clarity's sake, that five digit number is not really a block code as much as it is a street code. I think it was part of some earlier property ID scheme, in which every street in the city was given a five digit code, and every property also had a five digit code (with preceding zeros) that corresponded to the property address. These two five-digit codes were combined to create the "ten code", a unique property ID for each address in the city.

I am not sure, though, what the three digit code at the very beginning of the account number stands for. I imagine it must correspond to some city numbering system of some sort.

[billy ross]

For clarity's sake, that five digit number is not really a block code as much as it is a street code. I think it was part of some earlier property ID scheme, in which every street in the city was given a five digit code, and every property also had a five digit code (with preceding zeros) that corresponded to the property address. These two five-digit codes were combined to create the "ten code", a unique property ID for each address in the city.

I am not sure, though, what the three digit code at the very beginning of the account number stands for. I imagine it must correspond to some city numbering system of some sort.

How would I look up the "ten code" if I have the property address? The last five digits are easy, but the 'street code' is what I need to get figured out.

[jaybeebrad]

JBB,
This looks like an USTRA issue. The Utility Service Tenants Rights Act (USTRA), 68 P.S. 399.1, et seq., protects tenants from disruption of water service for landlord nonpayment. If the property is "reasonably likely" to be tenant occupied, Water Revenue should have sent you a notice 30 days in advance of shut off for landlord nonpayment. That notice would have explained your rights under USTRA. Since it is a multiple-unit dwelling, and assuming this is known to the City, there should be no doubt the property is "reasonably likely" to be tenant occupied. Also, because it's multiple unit, it will be harder, if not impossible to get tenant service directly. USTRA is a better way to go. Under USTRA, tenants have the right to pay the 30-day bill to continue service, each month, and deduct that payment from rent. Your landlord is prohibited from retaliating against you for the exercise of these rights. If you did not receive the notice, you and your fellow tenants should call/visit WRB, 1401 JFK, Concourse level, to get "tenant certified". That will allow you to continue to lawfully receive service, so long as you pay the 30-day bill.
Good luck.

According to the person I spoke with, USTRA does not apply to water because water is a tax and not a utility.

[CivilGideon]

According to the person I spoke with, USTRA does not apply to water because water is a tax and not a utility.

The person you spoke with was absolutely wrong (water is not a tax and USTRA applies).

[jaybeebrad]

The person you spoke with was absolutely wrong (water is not a tax and USTRA applies).

Well, they were wrong, but water *is* a tax. In any event I now have an attorney and this entire process has been a revolting farce. More than 2 weeks without water and the water revenue bureau REFUSES to give me an USTRA turn-on, so I now have a hearing date for October 31st. The water revenue department has programmed itself to believe that it is above the law, and this is par for the course for them. This has been an utter ordeal and I look forward to suing both them and the landlord for damages (also under USTRA's guidelines.)