HomeMy WebLinkAboutITEM VIII-A-1~- '
eCITYOF T ~T*
.~1V~UI~.lV AGENDA BILL APPROVAL FORM
WASHINGTON
Agenda Subject: Date:
Ordinance No. 6084 Aril 17, 2007
Department: Attachments: Budget Impact:
Finance Ordinance No. 6084
Administrative Recommendation:
City Council to introduce and adopt Ordinance No. 6084.
Background Summary:
Within the City's utility service areas, there are instances where utility services are provided to residential
multi-family and multi-dwelling unit buildings and are billed by the City owned utility, such as water, sewer,
stormwater and garbage services. The landlord or property owner is responsible for paying the utility for
these charges.
Most landlords have fairly applied billing practices to their tenants to recoup the amounts they have paid
for the utility services. However, there have been some residential landlords and property owners who
are recouping utility charges by billing tenants through practices that may not be fair to the tenants. In
some cases these billings have come separately from the landlords and property owners themselves or
through a third party agent and are not included within the monthly rent, and some bills have come
without prior notice or agreement and without explanation of the methods used to allocate the utility bills.
Some of the billings include unreasonable and unjustified administrative fees and excessive late fees and
penalties, or do not adequately inform tenants of the basis of any fees or penalties imposed. Tenants and
occupants of individual units currently have little or no recourse by which they can dispute or inquire
about bills for master metered or un-metered utility service or can challenge billing practices, and are
being deprived of the benefit of consumer protection laws.
This ordinance creates City Code for the utility service areas and defines specific guidelines on how
landlords, property owners or third party vendors may bill tenants by specifically identifying the
methodology they are using. Also, the code will limit fees for billing, late charges and other penalties.
N0507-1
04.11.2, F4.3
Reviewed by Council & Committees: Reviewed by Departments & Divisions:
^ Arts Commission COUNCIL COMMITTEES: ^ Building ^ M&O
^ Airport ^ Finance ^ Cemetery ^ Mayor
^ Hearing Examiner ^ Municipal Serv. ®Finance ^ Parks
^ Human Services ^ Planning & CD ^ Fire ^ Planning
^ Park Board ®Public Works ^ Legal ^ Police
^ Planning Comm. ^ Other ^Public Works ^ Human Resources
^ Information Services
Action:
Committee Approval: ^Yes ^No
Council Approval: ^Yes ^No Call for Public Hearing _/_/_
Referred to Until _/_/
Tabled Until _/_/_
Councilmember: Wa ner Staff: Coleman
Meetin Date: Ma 7, 2007 Item Number: VIII.A.1
A~,,T$Zj~N '~ MORE THAN YOU IMAGINED
ORDINANCE N0.6 0 8 4
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF AUBURN, WASHINGTON, ADDING A NEW
CHAPTER 13.52 TO THE AUBURN CITY CODE AND
AMENDING SECTION 13.06.210 OF THE CITY CODE
PROHIBITING DECEPTIVE AND FRAUDULENT
PRACTICES RELATED TO THIRD PARTY BILLING
FOR MASTER METERED OR OTHER UN-METERED
UTILITY SERVICES PROVIDED TO MULTI-FAMILY
AND MULTI-DWELLING UNIT BUILDINGS
WHEREAS, in a number of instances across the City's utility service areas,
utility services provided to residential multi-family and multi-dwelling unit buildings
in the City of Auburn utility service areas are billed by the utility through a master
metered or on an un-metered basis, and the landlord or property owner is
responsible for paying the utility for the charges for the various dwelling units
combined in such bills; and
WHEREAS, historically, most landlords in the City of Auburn's utility service
areas have fairly applied billing practices to recoup the amounts they have paid for
such utility services in the monthly rental rates they charge their tenants; and
WHEREAS, there have, however, been some residential landlords grid
property owners who are recouping utility charges by billing tenants for master
metered or un-metered utility services, through practices that may not be fair to the
tenants; and
WHEREAS, some of these billing demands on tenants have come
separately, whether from the landlords and property owners themselves or through
a third party agent, instead of including such costs within the monthly rent, and
some such billing demands have come without prior notice or agreement and
without explanation of the methods used to allocate the utility bills; and
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Ordinance No. 6084
March 23, 2007
Page 1 of 12
WHEREAS, certain bills for utility services are being sent to tenants by third
parties that may be required to be, but are not, licensed and/or registered to do
business in the State of Washington or the City of Auburn; and
WHEREAS, certain bills include unreasonable and unjustified administrative
fees and excessive late fees and penalties, or do not adequately inform tenants of
the basis of-any fees or penalties imposed; and
WHEREAS, provisions requiring disclosure of significant information
concerning billing of master metered or un-metered utility service would enable
tenants to better understand the costs and allocation methods reflected in the
utility bills and would more accurately reflect the actual costs of utilities; and
WHEREAS, tenants and occupants of individual units currently have little or
no recourse by which they can dispute or inquire about bills for master metered or
un-metered utility service or can challenge billing practices, and are being
deprived of the benefit of consumer protection laws; and
WHEREAS, the City Council intends to continue monitoring the impacts of
billing of master metered or un-metered utility service, to consider the requirement
of sub-metering and other regulations that address the concerns identified herein,
anal to review whether the provisions of this ordinance have provided a sufficient
degree of consumer protection for tenants and reasonable requirements for
landlords;
NOW THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AUBURN,
WASHINGTON DO ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION ONE ADDITION OF NEW CHAPTER TO CITY CODE. A
new Chapter 13.52 is added to Auburn City Code to read as follows:
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Ordinance No. 6084
March 23, 2007
Page 2 of 12
Chapter 13.52
THIRD PARTY BILLING REGULATION
Sections:
13.52.010
13.52.020
13.52.030
13.52.040
13.52.050
Short title and purpose.
Definitions.
Prohibited billing practices.
Billing requirements.
Dispute resolution and remedies.
13.52.010 Short title and purpose.
A. This chapter may be known and cited as the "Third Party Billing
Regulation. The general purpose of this chapter is to prevent landlords, either
themselves11or through a third party billing agent, from billing tenants for master
metered or other un-metered utility services without proper notice and disclosure
of billing practices to tenants, and to protect tenants from deceptive or fraudulent
billing practices, and to these ends the provisions of this chapter shall be liberally
construed.
B. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent a landlord from
including a tenant's cost of master metered or other un-metered utility services
within the rent set forth in a rental agreement, and the practice of including such
cost within a tenant's rent shall not be considered a billing practice or methodology
affected by the provisions of this chapter.
13.52.020 Definitions.
As used in this chapter, the following definitions apply:
A. "Billing entity" means the landlord or third party billing agent, as the
case may be, responsible for billing residential multi-unit building tenants for
master metered or other un-metered utility service.
B. "Disclosure" means providing tenants with complete and accurate
written information in a clear, concise, and understandable manner in all notices
required under this chapter and on each bill presented from the billing entity to
tenants.
C. "Landlord" means a "landlord" as defined in and within the scope of
RCW 59.18.030 and RCW 59.18.040 of the Residential Landlord Tenant Act of
1973 ("RLTA") in effect at the time the rental agreement is executed, and shall
also mean the owner of a mobile home park. At the time of passage of the
ordinance codified in this chapter, RLTA defined "landlord" as "the owner, lessor,
or sublessor of the dwelling unit or the property of which it is a part," and includes
"any person designated as representative of the landlord," including the operator
of the residential facility and/or mobile home park, representing, working for and
on behalf of the owner/landlord as defined herein.
Ordinance No. 6084
March 23, 2007
Page 3 of 12
D. "Master metered utility service" means a utility service supplied to
more than one (1) unit in a multi-unit building and measured through a single
inclusive metering system.
E. "Methodology" refers to any method, technique, or criterion used to
apportion to tenants charges billed to the landlord by the utility for master metered
utility service or un-metered utility service, including but not limited to Ratio Utility
Billing Systems, installation of sub-metering, and hot water metering.
F. "Multi-unit building" refers to a residential building or group of
buildings (which may include a mobile home park) with three (3) or more tenant
units with a master metered utility service or un-metered utility service, such as
solid waste collection, that is provided to the building or group of buildings as a
whole.
G. "Personally identifiable information" means specific information about
a tenant, including but not limited to the tenant's social security number, birth date,
mother's maiden name, banking data or information, or any other personal or
private information..
H. "Ratio Utility Billing System" or "RUBS" refers to any methodology by
which the cost of master metered or other un-metered utility service provided to
tenants and common areas of a multi-unit building is apportioned to tenants
through the use of a formula that estimates the utility usage of each rental unit in
the building based on the number of occupants in a unit, number of bedrooms in a
unit, square footage of a unit, or any similar criterion.
I. "Rental agreement" means a "rental agreement" as defined in and
within the scope of RCW 59.18.030 and RCW 59.18.040 of the Residential
Landlord Tenant Act (RLTA) in effect at the time the rental agreement is executed,
and is deemed to include any month-to-month tenancy arrangement, whether
written or oral. At the time of the passage of the ordinance codified in this chapter,
the RLTA defined "rental agreement" as "all agreements which establish or modify
the terms, conditions, rules, regulations, or any other provisions concerning the
use and occupancy of a dwelling unit."
J. "Service charge" refers to any charge or fee imposed by the billing
entity to cover the costs of providing or administering the billing practices,
regardless of the label applied to such charge or fee.
K. "Tenant" means a "tenant" as defined in and within the scope of
RCW 59.18.030 and RCW 59.18.040 of the RLTA in effect at the time the rental
agreement is executed, and shall also mean a tenant of a mobile home park. At
the time of passage of the ordinance codified in this chapter, the RLTA defined
"tenant" as "any person who is entitled to occupy a dwelling unit primarily for living
or dwelling purposes under a rental agreement."
L. "Billing practices" refers to the practices of a landlord or third party
billing agent, as defined herein, that bills residential multiunit building tenants for
the purpose of apportioning master metered or other un-metered utility services
provided to the building(s) as a whole, either by directly sub-metering tenants'
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Ordinance No. 6084
March 23, 2007
Page 4 of 12
usage or by otherwise apportioning such utility services among tenants, and also
refers to any practices related thereto, including but not limited to collecting, using
or disclosing tenants' personally identifiable information (other than name and
address), attempting to collect unpaid amounts from tenants, verifying tenants'
credit, and reporting unpaid balances to credit reporting agencies.
M. "Third party billing agent" refers to any entity retained or authorized
by a landlord to bill tenants for master metered or other un-metered utility service
on behalf of and as the agent of a landlord.
N. "Utilities" or "utility service(s)" refers to water, sewer, storm water,
and solid waste services.
13.52.030 Prohibited billing practices.
A. It is a deceptive and fraudulent business practice for any landlord or
third party billing agent to bill tenants separately for utility services except as
permitted in this chapter.
B. It is a deceptive and fraudulent business practice for a landlord to
engage, retain, or authorize a third party billing agent who does not comply with
the requirements of this chapter, and a .landlord shall be liable for the actions
engaging, retaining, or authorizing a third party billing agent who does not comply
with the requirements of this chapter.
C. As of the effective date of this ordinance, no landlord may disclose to
a third party billing agent a tenant's personally identifiable information under any
circumstances, provided, however, that nothing in this chapter shall .prevent a
landlord from disclosing a tenant's name and address to a third party billing agent .
for the purpose of engaging in permitted billing practices.
D. A third party billing agent who prior to the effective date of this
ordinance has obtained any tenant's personally identifiable information (other than
name and address) shall not use, sell, convey, or otherwise disclose that
personally identifiable information to any other person, except as expressly
permitted in this chapter, and must destroy all such information upon a tenant's
request, when the tenancy terminates and the account is paid, or when the
landlord terminates the third party billing agency relationship.
E. No third party billing agent may inform a credit reporting agency of a
claim against a tenant except as expressly permitted in RCW Chapter 19.16,
regardless of whether the third party billing agent is licensed by the state pursuant
to that chapter.
13.52.040 Billing requirements.
A. A landlord may, itself or through a third party billing agent, bill
tenants for master metered or other un-metered utility services, including electric
service provided to tenants of multi-unit buildings, provided that the following
requirements are met:
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Ordinance No. 6084
March 23, 2007
Page 5 of 12
1. Notice. Billing practices may be adopted only upon advance written
notice to a tenant as part of a new or renewed rental agreement. Tenants must
receive such written notice at least 90 days before expiration of their rental
agreements,. or, in the case of month-to-month tenancies, at least 90 days before
any such billing practices may become effective. Notwithstanding the foregoing
two sentences, if billing practices are already in place at the time the ordinance
codified in this chapter becomes effective, written notice must be given within 30
days of the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter.
2. Methodology. The notice required under section A.1 above must
include a copy of this chapter and a detailed written disclosure of the methodology
used by the billing agent to allocate the charges to each tenant, including the
methodology used to allocate utility services for common areas of the building,
along with all other terms and conditions of the billing arrangement. If sub-
metering is used, the notice required under section A.1 shall also include
descriptions of the location of the sub-meter and of the access requirements, if
any, required by the landlord for access to tenant units for sub-meter installation,
reading, repair, maintenance, or inspections, including removal of the sub-meter
for testing, consistent with the provisions of RCW 59.18.150 of the RLTA. An
additional written notice must also be given at least 30 days prior to the due date
of the next rental payment in order to implement a change in billing agents,
apportionment methodology, fees, or other terms and conditions of the billing
arrangement.
3. Posting of Information
(a) In addition to the written notification required by subsection A.2,
above, any landlord employing billing practices shall post in a conspicuous public
space in the interior of the building copies of the three most current utility bills for
master metered or other un-metered utility services provided to the building as a
whole that are included in the bill sent to the tenant, together with a written
description of the methodology used to allocate each such utility service and a
copy of this chapter. The landlord shall also post the provisions of this Ordinance
in a conspicuous public space in the interior of the building.
(b) Where such postings are physically impracticable due to the
absence of a suitable conspicuous public space, a landlord may satisfy the posting
requirements by hand-delivering or mailing to each of the tenants a paper copy of
the written notification required by subsection A.2, together with a written
description of the methodology used to allocate each such utility service and a
copy of this chapter and a copy of the provisions of this Ordinance. In lieu of
posting the three most current utility bills for master metered or other un-metered
utility services provided to the building as a whole that are included in the bill sent
to the tenant, the landlord must make such utility bills available upon request
within 5 business days and must inform tenants in the written notification required
by subsection A.2 of the method by which they may request such utility bills.
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Ordinance No. 6084
March 23, 2007
Page 6 of 12
(c) Landlords shall keep bills for master metered or other un-metered
utility services on file in the building for at least two years and shall make such bills
available to tenants for inspection and copying upon request. Where it is physically
impracticable to keep such bills on file due to the absence of a suitable office or
other storage space, a landlord may store the bills in another location and must
make such bills available within 5 business days of receiving a request from a
tenant.
4. Limitations on Charges. The total of all charges for any utility service
included in the bills sent to all units cumulatively shall not exceed the amount of
the bill sent by the utility itself for the building as a whole, less any late charges,
interest or other penalties owed by the landlord, with the exception of the following,
which may be included in each bill covering an independent unit within the multi-
unit building:
(a) A service charge of no more than two dollars ($2.00) per utility per
month, not to exceed a cumulative service charge of Five dollars ($5.00) per
month for all the utilities included in any bill.
(b) Late payment charges of no more than five dollars ($5.00) per month
plus interest at a rate not to exceed 1 % per month, which late payment charge
shall not accrue until at least 30 days after the tenant receives the bill.
(c) Insufficient funds check charges for dishonored checks, not to
exceed twenty-five dollars ($25.00) per dishonored check.
5. Licensing of Third Party Billing Agents. Any third party billing agent
must be properly registered and licensed to do business in the State of
Washington and City of Auburn and must be in compliance with all applicable
Washington state and Auburn laws and regulations, and all applicable Washington
and Auburn license identification numbers, if any, must be disclosed upon request.
6. Content of Bills. Each billing statement sent to a tenant by a billing
entity must disclose all required information in a clear and conspicuous manner
and at minimum must:
(a) Include the name, business address and telephone number of the
billing entity;
(b) Identify and show the basis for each separate charge, including
service charges and late charges, if any, as a line item, and show the total amount
of the bill;
(c) If the building units are sub-metered, include the current and
previous meter readings, the current read date, and the amount consumed (or
estimated to have been consumed if Auburn has provided the landlord with an
estimated bill);
(d) Specify the due date, the date upon which the bill becomes overdue,
the amount of any late charges or penalties that may apply, and the date upon
which such late charges or penalties may be imposed;
(e) Identify any past due dollar amounts;
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Ordinance No. 6084
March 23, 2007
Page 7 of 12
(f) Identify a mailing address and telephone number for billing inquiries
and disputes, identify the entity responsible for resolving billing inquiries and
disputes and its business hours and days of availability, and describe the process
used to resolve disputes related to bills as set forth in this chapter; and
(g) Include a statement to the effect that "this bill is from [landlord name]
and not from Auburn Public Utilities."
7. Protection of Personally Identifiable Information.
(a) A third party billing agent who prior to the effective date of this
ordinance has obtained a tenant's personally identifiable information shall take
such actions as are necessary to protect such personally identifiable information
and to .prevent its use or disclosure except as expressly permitted in this chapter.
(b) A third party billing agent who prior to the effective date of this
ordinance has obtained a tenant's personally identifiable information may disclose
such personally identifiable information only to the extent necessary to render its
billing services.
(c) To the extent required by federal, state, or local law, a billing entity
may disclose personally identifiable information in its possession (i) pursuant to a
subpoena or valid court order authorizing such disclosure, or (ii) to a governmental
entity.
8. Estimated Billing. If Auburn has billed the landlord using an estimate
of utility service consumed, the billing agent may estimate the charges to be billed
to tenants until billing based on actual consumption resumes. Upon receipt of a
corrected bill showing that the estimated bill over stated charges, the landlord
must refund the difference to tenants. Upon receipt of a corrected bill showing that
the estimated bill understated charges, the landlord may attempt to recover the
underpayment from the tenants that actually incurred the charges during the billing
period, but shall not attempt to recover an underpayment from a tenant who did
not reside in the unit during the billing period in which the charges were incurred.
9. Sub-metering. Sub-metering is permitted as a way of allocating
master metered utility services to tenants provided the following conditions are
met:
(a) The sub-meters must be read prior to each billing.
(b) A landlord may not enter a unit without, and a tenant may not
unreasonably withhold, consent to enter the unit in order to perform sub-meter
installation, reading, repair, maintenance, and inspection, including removal of the
sub-meter for testing, provided, however, that a landlord may enter a unit without a
tenant's consent in the case of a sub-meter leak or emergency related to that unit's
sub-meter.
(c) If a tenant contests the accuracy of the sub-meter, the tenant shall
have the option of demanding an independent test of the meter by a certified
testing company. If the meter reads within a 5% range of accuracy, the tenant
requesting the test shall pay the cost of the meter test. If the meter reads outside a
5% range of accuracy, the landlord shall pay for the cost of the meter test and
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Ordinance No. 6084
March 23, 2007
Page 8 of 12
within 30 days refund any overpayments for the past three months based on a
recalculation of the past year's billings by correcting for the inaccuracy of the sub-
meter. Sub-metering thereafter shall only be permitted with a repaired sub-meter.
6. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a landlord from
addressing billing of master metered or other un-metered utility services in a
written addendum to a lease. A lease addendum may be used to give the notice
required under subsection A.1 of this subsection, so long as the lease addendum
is provided to the tenant with the notice required under that subsection, and so
long as all other requirements of this chapter are satisfied.
13.52.050 Dispute resolution and remedies.
A. A dispute regarding the amount of charges or other terms and
conditions contained in a bill shall be resolved as follows:
1. The tenant must notify the billing entity of the nature of and reason
for the dispute by calling the number shown on the bill or by writing a letter to the
billing entity within 30 days of receiving the bill. The tenant must have a good faith
basis for any such dispute.
2. Within 30 days of receiving notice of a billing dispute, the billing
entity must contact the tenant to discuss the dispute, and the billing entity and
tenant must determine the amount of disputed and undisputed charges. The
tenant must pay all undisputed charges within 30 days of reaching agreement with
the billing entity.
3. No late fees or interest charges shall accrue on any disputed
portions of a bill while the amount is being resolved in accordance with
subsections A.1 and 2, and no collection activity related to the disputed portions of
a bill may be instituted against a tenant that has notified the billing entity of a
dispute in accordance with this chapter.
4. The tenant and billing entity shall continue to discuss in good faith
any remaining disputed amounts and attempt to reach an agreement on the
amount due, if any, within 60 days of the billing entity's receipt of notice of a billing
dispute. If a tenant is unable to reach a satisfactory resolution of any portion of a
disputed charge within the allotted time, the tenant may exercise any of the
remedies set forth in Section B below or any other available remedies, provided,
however, that if within 120 days of the billing entity's receipt of notice of a billing
dispute, the tenant has not either exercised one of the remedies set forth in
Section B or paid the remaining disputed amounts, the landlord may exercise any
legal or equitable remedies available to it to collect the unpaid amounts, and
provided further that nothing in this subsection shall be construed to deprive a
landlord of its right to exercise any legal or equitable remedies available to it
against a tenant that has not paid any undisputed charges, has not followed the
procedures set forth in this section, or has not exercised good faith in disputing a
charge.
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Ordinance No. 6084
March 23, 2007
Page 9 of 12
B. If a tenant believes that it has been or will be subject to billing
practices that violate any provision set forth in this chapter, including the failure to
comply with the notice requirements of Section 13.52.040(A)(3), the tenant may, at
its option, file a complaint against the landlord with the Hearing Examiner or
institute a civil action against the landlord, as follows:
1. The Hearing Examiner is hereby by vested with the authority to hear
and resolve, in a timely manner, tenant complaints against landlords regarding
billing practices in accordance with its rules and procedures then in force
governing .contested cases. The filing fee for such a case shall be set at $25.
Upon the finding of a violation of this chapter, the Hearing Examiner shall award
actual damages (including but not limited to refund of any overpayment or other
fees or charges resulting from such violation, and costs of pursuing the claim) and
a penalty of one hundred dollars, and may permit the tenant to terminate the rental
agreement by written notice in accordance with RCW 59.18.090. If the Hearing
Examiner determines that the landlord engaged in prohibited billing practices in
deliberate violation of this .chapter, the penalty mentioned in the preceding
sentence shall also award attorneys' fees to the tenant. A final order or decision of
the Hearing Examiner may be subject to judicial review in the King County
Superior Court in accordance with the Hearing Examiner's rules and procedures.
2. In the alternative, a tenant may institute a civil action against the
landlord. Upon a finding that the landlord engaged in billing practices that violate
this chapter, the court shall award actual damages (including but not limited to
refund of any overpayment of other fees or charges resulting from such violation,
and cost of pursuing the claim) and a penalty of one hundred dollars, and may
permit the tenant to terminate the rental agreement by written notice in accordance
with RCW 59.18.090. If the court determines that the landlord engaged in
prohibited billing practices in deliberate violation of this chapter, the penalty
mentioned in the preceding sentence shall be two hundred dollars, and the court
shall also award attorneys' fees to the tenant.
3. No late fees or interest charges shall accrue on any disputed
portions of a bill while the amount is being resolved by the Hearing Examiner or
court, and no collection activity or unlawful detainer action alleging default in the
payment of rent related to the disputed portions of a bill may be instituted against a
tenant that has filed a complaint with the Hearing Examiner or instituted a civil
action in accordance with this chapter while the amount is being resolved by the
Hearing Examiner or court. If the Hearing Examiner or court resolves the dispute
and finds that a tenant that has not acted in good faith in asserting a billing
dispute, the Hearing Examiner or court may order the tenant to pay late fees
and/or interest charges on some or all of the disputed portions of the bill.
4. A landlord shall not pass on, charge, or otherwise allocate to tenants,
in any manner whatsoever, any damages, fine or penalty (including attorneys'
fees) that the landlord is ordered to pay under this chapter.
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Ordinance No. 6084
March 23, 2007
Page 10 of 12
C. The existence of an unresolved or pending billing dispute does not
relieve a tenant of the tenant's obligation to pay in a timely fashion all undisputed
charges, including those undisputed charges that accrue after the dispute
resolution procedures of this chapter have been commenced.
SECTION TWO AMENDMENT TO SECTION OF CITY CODE. Section
13.06.210 of the Auburn City Code is amended to read as follows:
13.06.210 Service shut off.
It is unlawful for any owner/operator of any premisesi including multi-family
residential properties and complexes, connected to the city's water supply system
to shut off the water to the premises or anv part thereof unless the owner first
makes a request to the city that the service of water to the premises or any part
thereof be shut off, and if the premises are multi-family residential properties or
complexes it is also unlawful for any owner/operator of any such premises to shut
off the water to the premises unless the owner/operator notifies the
residents/tenants thereof not less than three (3) business days in advance of the
time that the owner/operator requests that the service of water to the premises or
anv part thereof be shut off. When the water service has been shut off from any
premises or any part thereof upon application of the owner/operator thereof, or for
nonpayment of water charges, or for any other cause, it is unlawful for any person
to turn on the city water to such premises except when authorized to do so by the
city. (Ord. 5849 § 1, 2004; Ord. 5216 § 1, 1999; Ord. 4878 § 3, 1996.)
SECTION THREE CONSTITUTIONALITY OR INVALIDITY. If any
section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this Ordinance, is for
any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by any Court of competent jurisdiction,
such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct and independent provision, and
such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions thereof.
SECTION FOUR IMPLEMENTATION. The Mayor is hereby authorized
to implement such administrative procedures as may be necessary to carry out the
directions of this legislation.
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Ordinance No. 6084
March 23, 2007
Page 11 of 12
SECTION FIVE EFFECTIVE DATE. This Ordinance shall take effect
and be in force five days from and after its passage, approval, and publication as
provided by law and on June 15, 2007.-
INTRODUCED:
PASSED:
APPROVED:
PETER B. LEWIS
MAYOR
ATTEST:
Danielle E. Daskam,
City Clerk
APP VED FORM:
D iel B. e'
City Attorney
PUBLISHED:
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Ordinance No. 6084
March 23, 2007
Page 12 of 12