The City of Yakima Municipal Code currently allows for utility accounts to be held in the name of a tenant (with a few exceptions). The property owner is ultimately responsible for utility charges even if the utility account is in the tenant’s name. The practice of allowing an account to be held in the tenant’s name can be problematic as the property owner is often unaware of an outstanding utility balance left owing by a tenant until the time of sale of the property when a request is made from a title company for outstanding balances or liens against a property.
This ordinance requires utility accounts be held in the property owner’s name and utility bills must be sent to the owner. Copies of utility bills may be sent to a tenant or property management company upon the property owner’s request. An owner may authorize a property management company to be responsible for the utility charges upon written request.
This ordinance also outlines how utility deposits are calculated and applied to utility accounts that are held in the property owner’s name. These proposed changes will alleviate several of the issues and challenges that we face in the division. |