Tenants
If you are a tenant, and you have to pay Water & Wastewater, you need to set up your own account. To do that please see the next section, Account Setup & Changes.
Landlords
As the property owner, if the tenant fails to pay the Water & Wastewater bills, the arrears are applied to the property tax roll, which are your responsibility.
Provincial legislation under section 398 (2) of the Municipal Act provides that charges for the supply of a public utility may be added to the taxes for the property to which the utility was supplied which also includes water arrears of the tenants of an owner’s property. Typically, the owner of the property has an agreement with the tenant that the tenant will pay for water and wastewater services. Owners assume the risks and rewards
associated with ownership and as such, it is their responsibility to ensure that the tenant is paying the water and wastewater charges.
Tenant’s Accounts
Landlord’s can obtain limited information on their tenants account balances and bill dates. When you call Haldimand Water & Wastewater, you will be asked to verify that you are the property owner by providing:
- The Roll Number of the account you are calling about
- The Tenant’s name
- The amount of arrears that was tax rolled to your property tax account per the letter that the County has
sent you
Haldimand County Water and Wastewater is able to provide you with the following information on your Tenant’s account:
- The bill dates and due dates of the unpaid invoices
- The breakdown between Water, Wastewater and interest
- When the next bill will be issued on the account
Arrears added to your tax roll?
- Water arrears that are added to your property tax account include a Transfer to Property Tax Account for Collection Fee
- If you have more than one tenant’s arrears added to your property tax bill for that month, only one fee is applied
- It is your responsibility as the landlord to collect any fees and arrears from your tenants
Tips to avoid having your tenant’s arrears added to you property tax account:
- Pay for all the Water & Wastewater for all your rental units and recoup the costs from the monthly rent by estimating an average usage
- Provide incentives for your tenants to use less water by offering a refund if they use less than the estimated monthly usage