Tax Sale Question for the Province of Ontario Canada

[mpro]

Thanks..what about unpaid utilities?

[Pfm1011]

legally hydro is a private company and has no claim......reality is they wont hook back up without the old bill paid

You can sit in the dark and argue from the moral high ground ..or just pay the bill and get renovating 

generally its such a small bill it isnt worth the hassle..an ex grow op may be a different story  as they pull the numbers out of their a** . Then it would be worth the fight

[farrouk]

PFM
I didn't realize this was the case. Has it happened to you? This may have implications to a property I am currently considering?

[Frank]

PFM
I didn't realize this was the case. Has it happened to you? This may have implications to a property I am currently considering?

I don't believe that is in fact the case, but please correct me if I am wrong.  Hydro accounts are with the persons or business that consumes the electricity and does not stay with the property.  Most Hydro companies now require new businesses to make significant account deposits to protect themselves from default.   

[markymark]

PFM
I didn't realize this was the case. Has it happened to you? This may have implications to a property I am currently considering?

I don't believe that is in fact the case, but please correct me if I am wrong.  Hydro accounts are with the persons or business that consumes the electricity and does not stay with the property.  Most Hydro companies now require new businesses to make significant account deposits to protect themselves from default.   

You are correct.It's the same with all utilities.Gas,cable,phone,hydro,oil,water...

[twinn1]

Frank is correct, it is with the named person on the invoice and not the property, there was actually a law passed or some sort of case law to that effect back in 1998 ish.

[Pfm1011]

Oops you are correct,   Up until 2004 the local hydros were trying to hold the landlords responsible for grow op hydro bills

http://www.mapinc.org/newstcl/v02/n1085/a07.html

"In a 2004 decision by the Ontario Superior Court, Justice Gordon decided, among other things, that a departing tenant with hydro arrears was responsible for those arrears, not the landowner or building owner, and that the utility could not refuse to provide service to the owner based on a debt by a former tenant (or owner)."