What did the municipal utility say when you called about why you have to let the city know who lives in your home? What's your proof that they make every adult in the home liable for the bill?
The term "unfair" is irrelevant. An action is either legal or it isn't.
The statement that the city you live in has "issues" with low income people is your opinion, just as it's your opinion that "they" often enact ordinances that mostly affect low income people.
I don't think they're out to get you.
Here's what I know of their requirements. I was calling to help a friend. She was told that all adults in the home must be on the utility bill. I recalled a few years back when my nephew had moved in with his girlfriend. A month later she moved out leaving a few months of unpaid utilities. My nephew took over the rental contract from the landlord. The utility company said he was liable for his g/f's past bill because he was living there. He moved because there was no way he was going to pay her bill when he had lived there less than a month. He found a new apt. and could not rent it because he had already given his info to the utility company and they have attached the bill to his name. They would not turn on his utilities until the past bill was paid. He now cannot rent a unit in this town until he pays a $400+ bill belonging to his ex girlfriend.
After puttin this all together in disbelief, I called the utility company and was told their policy. All adults in the home MUST be on the bill.
Let me take a stab in the dark here and say that OP probably is taking issue because they are a low-income resident, probably taking advantage of a low-income utility discount program.
If that is the case, then the utility company IS entitled to know about all adults living within the household, because the total household income is what qualifies or disqualifies someone from receiving that service discount. That includes any/all adults in the household (working or not) that benefit from the discounted utility services, whether or not they pay for them. The concept is that if these additional occupants have the ability to pay the regular price for or towards the services, then the primary accountholder is NOT entitled to a discounted prices for those same services.
I'll just bet this is the issue. Otherwise, the utility company shouldn't or wouldn't normally care WHO lives in the property, especially if the bills are getting paid.
Wrong, not the issue. I'm not at all low income. However, I do, often, help the disadvantage. I do understand that, if a person is applying for any welfare/income based program, they must list all persons in the home. I spent more than ten years of my career working for the welfare dept.
I agree with you. The utility company shouldn't care who lives in your home, but they do. Is it legal?
Sandyclaus, you hit the nail on the head.
The paranoia displayed by the OP was a clue that something was going on that the OP didn't want anyone taking a closer look at.
Probably didn't want to ask the utility company too many questions about the account because the company would probably become suspicious and investigate accordingly.
Again, not the situation. And no paranoia going on here. I do have a tendency to help out people in need and therefore see the things that are happening.
Here's a few examples of how our city owned utilities has rules that seem to affect the poor more so than those who have money.:
New utility service requires an 800 Trans Union FICO credit score or you're required to put a cash deposit equivalent to two months of the highest service costs at that address.
All adults must be on the bill. They use the worse credit of the bunch to determine deposit. If any of the adults have an unpaid past bill, no one gets utilities.
If you are one day late paying your bill, you get a $16 late fee. And here's a real weird connection to that. About twenty years ago, when they started this extreme late fee, they also rearranged their payment due date schedules. I was working at the local welfare office at the time. Over the matter of a few months, I started noticing that my clients were complaining that their util bill due date had been changed to the 28th so now they have to pay a late fee every month. True, they could call and have the date changed, but not if you've paid late recently.
And now the big one. If you're utilities are shut off, the city owned utility company puts you on a list that they send over to the building inspectors. The inspectors go out and red tag the home saying it's unfit to live in. They also send a notice to the landlord threatening him with a $1000 a day fine. Threatening the landlord causes the tenant to be evicted long before they have a chance to appeal the red tag in court. In effect, denying them their day in court.
Geez, I'm begining to think this forum is more for ranking on people than helping them.
