§ 70-686. Due date; delinquent accounts; payment of collection costs and attorney fees; creation of liens.

(a)

Monthly utility bills shall become due and payable 20 days from the billing date and shall become delinquent accounts if not paid in full by the close of business on the 20th day after the billing date. Pay As You Go accounts are considered delinquent if the balance on the account is negative for two days in a row.

(b)

The owner and/or consumer of any premises supplied by any utility services by the city shall pay all costs of past due collections, including reasonable attorney fees, incurred in the collection of charges, bills, accounts, liens and penalties imposed by virtue of this article.

(c)

A delinquent account, including any utility services and other charges on account, shall be discontinued in accordance with the provisions contained in section 70-691, regardless of the status of the owners' other accounts. The electric and/or water supply shut off from and to the premises of the owner or consumer from whom such account is in arrears may be shut off. A reconnection charge as specified in the city's then-current adopted fees resolution shall be assessed against such customer.

(d)

When an owner or consumer vacates or sells property leaving a delinquent bill against such property vacated or sold, the city may, at its option, refuse to provide any other service to the same owner or consumer for use in the future until the date the original delinquent account is paid, regardless of whether the other accounts of the owner or consumer are in good standing.

(e)

When utility services are furnished to the owner of any premises, the charges for such services shall be and constitute a lien against the premises, and shall become effective and binding as such lien from the date upon which the account becomes due, unpaid and in arrears. Existing liens and liens imposed hereafter as set out in this subsection shall be treated as special assessment liens against the subject real property, and until fully paid and discharged, shall remain liens equal in rank and dignity with the lien of ad valorem taxes, and shall be superior in rank and dignity to all other liens, encumbrances, titles and claims in, to or against the real property involved; the maximum rate of interest allowable by law shall accrue to such delinquent accounts. Such liens for service charges and penalties shall be enforced by any of the methods provided in F.S. ch. 86; or, in the alternative, foreclosure proceedings may be instituted and prosecuted under the provisions applicable to practice, pleading and procedure for the foreclosure of mortgages on real estate set forth in state law, or may be foreclosed per F.S. ch. 173; or the collection and enforcement of payment thereof may be accomplished by any other method authorized by law.

(f)

The owner shall pay all costs of collection, including reasonable attorney fees, incurred in the collection of fees, service charges, penalties and liens imposed by virtue of this article. The remedy provided in this subsection shall be cumulative and shall not be construed to waive the right of the city to require payment of any bill in arrears before renewing any services of the city to the premises in question.

(g)

If unpaid, charges under this division shall constitute a lien against the property, and no utility service to the property will be provided until these charges are paid in full, provided, that as to any rental unit, service may not be refused or discontinued to the owner or a current tenant, on account of a bill owed by a previous tenant, except to the extent the owner or current tenant received a direct benefit from service provided to the prior tenant.

(Ord. No. 6013, § 1, 9-1-09; Ord. No. 2016-17, § 6, 1-19-16)