Who pay the Hydro Bill

[jude]

Hi,

Do we have to find about Hydro bill/ Gas bill / phone bill and others on the property, before the purchase/bid?  Once you win the property, who should pay these bills?  Do I/successful buyer have to pay to get it cleared or city or the provider should clear it?

I appreciate all your discussions.
Thanks.
Jude

[g2020]

Not you! These are not one of the things that a tax deed is subject to. I usually get charged a new customer fee and a deposit if I am not an existing customer of that utility. If the hydro has been off for more than 6 months then you will probably have to have the service inspected ($) and brought up to code($). Some municipalities (usually the cities) automatically open a new account for the tax sale purchaser, others expect you to arrange it. Sometimes you get hit with the current water bill and therefore are charged with some usage of the prior owner. Even though the old owners arrears do not carry forward to you, the cost of getting hydro back to one of these tax sale palaces can be considerable - budget 3k, or more the line to the meter has been removed. Other's experiences would be appreciated.

[netpred]

If the service needs upgrading (or was upgraded without a permit) you may need a new pole etc.

[ChrisCentral]

Outside of tax sales I can tell you that commercial properties will require an ESA inspection not only for 'Authorization to Connect' but the inspector will also have a look at the main service and distribution equipment - this could potentially open up a great big can of worms, but commercial properties are relatively rare and normally outside of my budget anyways (I do still dream of converting that old London factory into an apartment building or condos... but I didn't then nor do I now have the capital for that).

Residential is different since the homeowner has some rights. Keep in mind that every utility in Ontario is different. If the meter head was pulled you will required anything from a simple new meter or reconnect request to a new service request and ESA inspection. I can tell you in truth that even with Hydro One the standards very from east to west to central to north.

If the property is old some inspectors will get picky and really start to dig... dig outside of the bounds of the purpose for which they are there and could refuse connection until the issues are corrected... unfortunately when your business is 'Electrical Safety' everything is your business when it ensures that people aren't going to die in an electrical fire...

[pjdd]

Great posts from g2020/netpred/chriscentral. My first Tax Sale property went pretty smooth until I had to turn on the lights After several phone calls and waiting.... I finally got the inspector. The house was in pretty good shape but the inspector wanted a air quality assessment and a few others things $$$. Luckly second time around  with the inspector  approved it.

Jude; you really don't know what will happen after you win the property.... anything can and probably will happen good and not so good.
Good Luck

[Ivan]

Thanks for all the helpful info. It?s a possible cost that someone new to the came such as myself could easily over look

[jude]

Thank you everyone for your inputs.  Awesome to know that I don't need to pay for these.
Also valuable information before bid for any specific property.

Cheers,
Jude

[ErnestBidder]

pjdd:

  Which inspector? Home? ESA? Municipal? Just wondering who would request an air quality assessment on a resale property.

[pjdd]

pjdd:

  Which inspector? Home? ESA? Municipal? Just wondering who would request an air quality assessment on a resale property.

ErnestBidder; I was told that because the house was vacant for so many years that I had to get Ontario Hydro Authority(ESA) to inspect the property. I was very surprised that he asked for a air quality inspection. I guess when he went to check out the panel in the basement which was a little dusty he got a little upset. Anyhow maybe he was having a bad day  After a couple of phone calls I did not have to get the test done and they approved it to the local utilitie company....

[ErnestBidder]

  So, I guess now we have to lug out a generator and a vacuum cleaner, & do some dusting, so as not to offend the sensibilities of hydro employees!
  God help us all.

[Dave2]

  So, I guess now we have to lug out a generator and a vacuum cleaner, & do some dusting, so as not to offend the sensibilities of hydro employees!
  God help us all.

Be thankful if you have hydro service at the lot line.  Running it a few hundred feet is mucho dollars

[jude]

Hello All,

Is there any website where I can find the land registry office for each city?  For example: for Georgetown property, the description says "48362 Halton Hills."
Does this means the land registry office is at "Halton (NO.20) Milton, Ontario?"

Thanks.
Jude

[jude]

Hi,
This website has some information, but it doesn't include all the cities and its not a government website:
http://www.titlesearchers.ca/registries/RE10019
am I missing anything here?  Thanks.
Jude

[drago408]

Each Region has its own "Registry" and/or "Land Titles" offices, not every city.  Peel Region's for example is in Brampton.  And yes, the Halton region office is in Milton.

PS. If you google Land Registry office locations, it will give you a list of all the Regions and the addresses of the land registry offices.

[ErnestBidder]

 If you go to the "questions and answers" section of the main page of this forum, all the ontario registry offices are listed.

  Cheers to all