When the city furnishes service to residential occupants in a multi-unit residential structure, mobile home park, or permanent residential structures in a labor camp, as defined in Cal. Health & Safety § 17008, where the owner, manager, or operator is listed by the city as the customer of record, the city will make a good faith effort to give written notice to the residential occupants at least ten days before utility service termination regarding the utility account delinquency and utility service termination date. The notice will further inform the residential occupants that they have the right to become customers, to whom the service will then be billed, without being required to pay any amount which may be due on the delinquent account. The city is not required to make service available to the residential occupants unless each residential occupant agrees to the terms and conditions of service and meets the requirements of law. However, if one or more of the residential occupants are willing and able to assume responsibility for the entire account to the satisfaction of the Director, or if there is a physical means, legally available to the city, of selectively discontinuing service to those residential occupants who have not met the city's requirements, the city will make service available to those residential occupants who have met those requirements. Any residential occupant who becomes a customer of the city pursuant to this section whose periodic payments, such as rental payments, include charges for water service, where those charges are not separately stated, may deduct from the periodic payment each payment period all reasonable charges paid to the city for those services during the preceding payment period.
(Ord. 1023, passed 2-1-99; Am. Ord. 1071, passed 7-21-03)