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SERVICE BILLS ELECTRICITY & WATER etc...
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nightrider
SERVICE BILLS ELECTRICITY & WATER etc...
Part of a Lawyer's duties on your behalf when purchasing a property in Portugal is to make sure that the previous owners service(s) bills have been paid up to the time of the Notary signing and arrange for new contracts in the new purchaser(s) name(s). We have come across people that for some reason or other after purchasing their property, have been presented through the post with the former owners bills and despite a never ending communication with the individual who carried out their purchase, find that they get nowhere. We have physically taken people who find themselves in such a position to the EDP, Portimao HQ for this area to get the matter sorted. (You will need such documents as proof of your ownership of the property/habitation licence, fiscal card, passport and/or resident card (if resident) and last bill received.
I saw this in last week's The Residence and it seems to me that something is wrong here and I might write to the editor in order to offer Mr and Mrs Bond of Silves to contact me.
Updated: 03 March 2006
Water bill nightmare
After reading the recent article ‘English couple fight council over water bill’ (The Resident, February 10), I would like to mention that my wife and I have just been in the same situation. We received two water bills, one after the other, accumulating to 1,800 euros. Again, there are only three of us and also we asked the same question – why did Silves câmara not pick up on the problem and stop the situation, considering the serious drought problems that the Algarve was having? We are fighting it, but we are devastated as we only moved here last September and these were our first two bills. We don’t seem to be having much luck with the câmara and it is forcing us to rethink our situation as to whether we can stay here.
Mr and Mrs Bond, Silves
I saw this in last week's The Residence and it seems to me that something is wrong here and I might write to the editor in order to offer Mr and Mrs Bond of Silves to contact me.
Updated: 03 March 2006
Water bill nightmare
After reading the recent article ‘English couple fight council over water bill’ (The Resident, February 10), I would like to mention that my wife and I have just been in the same situation. We received two water bills, one after the other, accumulating to 1,800 euros. Again, there are only three of us and also we asked the same question – why did Silves câmara not pick up on the problem and stop the situation, considering the serious drought problems that the Algarve was having? We are fighting it, but we are devastated as we only moved here last September and these were our first two bills. We don’t seem to be having much luck with the câmara and it is forcing us to rethink our situation as to whether we can stay here.
Mr and Mrs Bond, Silves
Last edited by nightrider on Tue Mar 07, 2006 10:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
As long as the contracts/bills do not show the owner's name anywhere, the owner cannot be held responsible for previously unpaid bills. The people whose names appear on the contract/bills are responsible for paying. I know this from personal experience. A flat which I own was rented out and the tenants left without paying their bills. As my name does not appear on either the water, electricity or cable TV bills or contracts, I do not have to pay a cent.
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nightrider
Hi Gadjo, Hope your ok. Having had experience in both locations. Can you please confirm that you are speaking about a property in the UK and not here in the Algarve.Thank you.Gadjo wrote:As long as the contracts/bills do not show the owner's name anywhere, the owner cannot be held responsible for previously unpaid bills. The people whose names appear on the contract/bills are responsible for paying. I know this from personal experience. A flat which I own was rented out and the tenants left without paying their bills. As my name does not appear on either the water, electricity or cable TV bills or contracts, I do not have to pay a cent.
Regards
Nightrider
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nightrider
Hi Bazza,
I contacted The Resident yesterday leaving my details for your friends to be contacted should they wish to contact me. But maybe as you say a good idea would be for you also to have a quiet word with them. Tell them the following:- Which is just one case that we have come across, of what it would appear maybe a similiar situation as your friends:-
A female purchased a very run down property around the Alcantarilha/Silves area for holiday use. A few months later and on visiting the Algarve and wishing to instruct a builder. She found two bills waiting for her in the previous owners names. One for just under 800€uros (EDP-Electricity) and the other for just under 300Euros(Silves.Water) but she had used neither service or very little. Despite several contacts to the purchasing lawyer, she got no where.
Eventually, with a Portuguese speaking person, the female went to the EDP Portimao and the Water Dept, Silves and as suspected, new contracts could not be given until the previous amounts were cleared by the former owner. On contacting the lawyer, he told the female that she had to clear the bills. Later he then told her that he had paid the bills himself and she owed him for the money. Without the lawyer's knowledge knew contracts were arranged to be put into the lady's name, she then told the lawyer that the matter was his problem of getting the money back from the rightly person who owed the money "the previous owner". This situation of course should not have arose if said lawyer had carried out his duties of purchase on behalf of said female correctly.
It is suspected in this case that there was more to it, then just the bills, but for the sake of this post, that's another story.
So what we need to find out, is if this story is anything like what your poor friends have found themselves having to deal with.
Hope this is of some help to your friends.
Kind Regards
Nightrider
I contacted The Resident yesterday leaving my details for your friends to be contacted should they wish to contact me. But maybe as you say a good idea would be for you also to have a quiet word with them. Tell them the following:- Which is just one case that we have come across, of what it would appear maybe a similiar situation as your friends:-
A female purchased a very run down property around the Alcantarilha/Silves area for holiday use. A few months later and on visiting the Algarve and wishing to instruct a builder. She found two bills waiting for her in the previous owners names. One for just under 800€uros (EDP-Electricity) and the other for just under 300Euros(Silves.Water) but she had used neither service or very little. Despite several contacts to the purchasing lawyer, she got no where.
Eventually, with a Portuguese speaking person, the female went to the EDP Portimao and the Water Dept, Silves and as suspected, new contracts could not be given until the previous amounts were cleared by the former owner. On contacting the lawyer, he told the female that she had to clear the bills. Later he then told her that he had paid the bills himself and she owed him for the money. Without the lawyer's knowledge knew contracts were arranged to be put into the lady's name, she then told the lawyer that the matter was his problem of getting the money back from the rightly person who owed the money "the previous owner". This situation of course should not have arose if said lawyer had carried out his duties of purchase on behalf of said female correctly.
It is suspected in this case that there was more to it, then just the bills, but for the sake of this post, that's another story.
So what we need to find out, is if this story is anything like what your poor friends have found themselves having to deal with.
Hope this is of some help to your friends.
Kind Regards
Nightrider
Nightrider - the property I'm talking about is in Portugal - I have never owned a property in the UK so don't know what the situation is there.
Re the council picking up on unpaid bills. In my area, the piped water is the responsibility of a privately run company and nothing to do with the council. Likewise, I don't see why a lawyer should be involved in ensuring bills are paid on a property - that is surely between the edp/water companies or whoever and the contractee. In my humble opinion, if the debts were incurred by a previous owner (and can be proved as such), the present owners should not, and can not, be held responsible. I'm sure the courts would come to the same conclusion if it came to that.
It sounds as if people, who can't communicate in Portuguese, are using the services of a third party who is perhaps taking advantage of the situation to feather his/her nest.
Regards.
Re the council picking up on unpaid bills. In my area, the piped water is the responsibility of a privately run company and nothing to do with the council. Likewise, I don't see why a lawyer should be involved in ensuring bills are paid on a property - that is surely between the edp/water companies or whoever and the contractee. In my humble opinion, if the debts were incurred by a previous owner (and can be proved as such), the present owners should not, and can not, be held responsible. I'm sure the courts would come to the same conclusion if it came to that.
It sounds as if people, who can't communicate in Portuguese, are using the services of a third party who is perhaps taking advantage of the situation to feather his/her nest.
Regards.
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nightrider
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nightrider
Hi Gadjo,
Water and Electricity and the paying of bills.
I have studied my files and if one checks with someone like AFPOP it would seem as you correctly stated previously, that the onus is on the previous owners to pay their bills.... up to the signing of the Deed at the Notary.
I am a member of AFPOP and I happen to know that they have extremely informative Bulletins on all the services and much more.
Tel No: 282 458509
With regard my report on a female's problems, (which we are aware has happened before) surrounding a property purchase and the above mentioned bills, I can confirm was by first hand experience. Furthermore, and as I previously advised, there was a lot more to this matter, but it would not be correct to publicise it on the forum. By the way I can also confirm that I and one other do not want or receive one little feather for our nests, as people on this very forum will confirm
Some in this world help, believe it or not, just out of kindness and caring about others.
With Kind Regards,
N.R.
Water and Electricity and the paying of bills.
I have studied my files and if one checks with someone like AFPOP it would seem as you correctly stated previously, that the onus is on the previous owners to pay their bills.... up to the signing of the Deed at the Notary.
I am a member of AFPOP and I happen to know that they have extremely informative Bulletins on all the services and much more.
Tel No: 282 458509
With regard my report on a female's problems, (which we are aware has happened before) surrounding a property purchase and the above mentioned bills, I can confirm was by first hand experience. Furthermore, and as I previously advised, there was a lot more to this matter, but it would not be correct to publicise it on the forum. By the way I can also confirm that I and one other do not want or receive one little feather for our nests, as people on this very forum will confirm
Some in this world help, believe it or not, just out of kindness and caring about others.With Kind Regards,
N.R.
Nightrider said "By the way I can also confirm that I and one other do not want or receive one little feather for our nests, as people on this very forum will confirm"
Apologies (if necessary) I was in absolutely no way suggesting that either you or anyone else on this forum were "feathering their nests".
Apologies (if necessary) I was in absolutely no way suggesting that either you or anyone else on this forum were "feathering their nests".
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nightrider