(A) Prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy by the Director of Building and Housing of the city, there shall be presented to the Water Department an application for water service in the name of the tenant or person so occupying the premises in question, said application to be in the form and style as provided by the Department.
(B) (1) No certificate of occupancy shall be issued by the Inspector unless the Department shall have approved such application for water service submitted to it by the tenant of the premises in question or the person so occupying said premises.
(2) (a) The Water Department shall not approve the issuance of an occupancy permit until and unless all outstanding water service billings to the address in question have been paid in full.
(b) Should there be an outstanding billing to a tenant who has moved or filed bankruptcy, then the billing for the unpaid service or for that service barred by the discharge in bankruptcy shall be made to the owner of the premises in question and no approval of the application for water service shall be granted unless and until such charges have been paid in full.
(C) In the case of multi-unit structures the billing for water service shall remain in the name of the owner or manager of said premises; provided that, the record owner of the premises in question as shown by the tax billing by the Assessor of the county shall be the person to whom all billings for water service shall be made, unless such other person as might claim an interest in the property in question shall make application to the Department for water service and pay the appropriate deposits and comply with such other rules and regulations of the Department.
(D) This section shall not diminish in any manner the authority of the Department to impress a lien upon the property in question for unpaid water service as provided by law, notwithstanding the billing of water service in the name of the tenant or such other person occupying the premises in question.
(E) It shall be the duty of all owners or managers of property located within the city limits and receiving water service from the city to notify the Department when there is a change of occupancy of the premises in question. Said notice shall be in written form to the Department, giving among other things, the street address of the property, the permanent tax index number of said property, the name of the person surrendering occupancy of the premises, their forwarding address and the name of the person to commence occupancy of the premises or a statement under oath that the premises will remain unoccupied and that the person so reporting will inform the city when a new occupant will occupy the premises.
(F) It shall be unlawful for occupants to remain in occupancy of a premises where the water service has been shut off for a period of six days or more and that the Water Department is authorized to seek an eviction of such persons in the local court or the Circuit Court of the county. Where there is a determination that children are involved in the occupancy of the premises, the Water Department shall notify the state’s Department of Children and Family Services of the impending eviction.
(G) (1) It shall be unlawful for a landlord, owner, agent or occupant to continue water service to a premises which has been vacated by a previous tenant or occupant and that any subsequent water service shall be in the name of the then current tenant or occupant of the premises.
(2) The penalty contained in § 51.999 of this chapter imposing a fine of not less than $25, nor exceeding, shall be applicable to a landlord, owner, agent or occupant who has continued the water service declared unlawful by this section. Also, a separate affiance shall be deemed committed upon each day during which a violation of this division (G) occurs or continues.
(Prior Code, § 51.001) (Ord. 1357, passed 12-6-1989; Ord. 94-O-1521, passed 12-7-1994; Ord. 06-O-1861, passed 6-7-2006; Ord. 06-O-1874, passed 9-20-2006; Ord. 07-O-1880, passed 1-17-2007) Penalty, see § 51.999