Landlords will find themselves coughing up for the unpaid municipal bills of their errant tenants.
New national legislation allows Municipalities to claim arrears in water, lights, refuse etc. from landlords rather than from tenants – even if the electricity or water meter of the house, factory, flat etc. is registered in the name of the tenant.
The issue was brought up yesterday at a Ward 2 committee meeting at Endumeni Municipality.
Businessmen who attended the meeting expressed their concern to Councillor Anthon Raubenheimer who chaired the meeting.
Councillor Raubenheimer agreed with their concerns but said as it was now national legislation all Municipalities would have to fall in line.
The businessmen said this meant that the Municipality will have to vigorously enforce credit control policies to ensure arrears are collected from all residents – those who rent and those who are property owners.
Councillor Raubenheimer warned that it could be that a property may be sold and a rates clearance certificate issued only for the Municipality to discover an arrears account for the sold property which the new owner would then become liable for.
The business community fears that this may impact greatly on property investment in the town. A call was made for a sub committee of Council to meet to discuss the new law.
There is also a concern that the uncontrolled theft of electricity in the Municipal area – currently at over R1 million a month – is also making a mockery of the legislation.