North Chicago, IL asked in Landlord - Tenant and Real Estate Law for Michigan

Q: Tenant owed 5 month rent and 1k water bill

Tenant owed 5 month rent and 1k water bill due to eviction ban and no shutoff utility as Covid19. Township can't get the bill paid but decided to add the water bill to landlord property tax. Is it correct? what I should do except file eviction? Thanks!

1 Lawyer Answer
Brent T. Geers
Brent T. Geers
Answered
  • Grand Rapids, MI
  • Licensed in Michigan

A: In most jurisdictions, a water bill is a lien on the land, and so ultimately is the responsibility of the property owner. That is why many landlords elect to keep the water bill in their name and charge the tenant for the water either as part of the rent or additional to it.

You can certainly evict, and hope you can recover some money to help pay the water bill. But at the end, you're going to need to pay that water bill.

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