Not Paying Your Harrison Water/Sewer Bill Is Very Costly

Harrison Mayor James Fife announced both in a robocall and in a letter posted to the Town of Harrison website that the Town will shut off the water supply from residents' homes that are delinquent in payment of their Water & Sewer bills after May 1, 2022.   The moratorium on the payment of Water & Sewer bills by Governor Phil Murphy has expired and Mayor Fife stated that shut-offs will occur as well as the sale of delinquent Water & Sewer bills at the next Town of Harrison Property Tax Sale scheduled for December.

The Letter from Mayor Fife dated March 9, 2022, also stated that unless you got your Water & Sewer bill paid by March 15, 2022, you would be paying accrued interest for the date that you made a payment in full. 

It is too late now to avoid the accrued interest but if you have a financial hardship you can apply up to April 15, 2022, for a payment plan which if kept would avoid a Water shutoff.   You must contact the Town of Harrison Water Department at 973-268-2431 to apply for the financial hardship payment plan. 

If you do not enter into a payment plan by April 15, 2022, the water to your home or building could be cut off.  It is not clear whether there was any Covid relief money provided to the State, County or Town of Harrison earmarked for assistance to homeowners who were in financial hardship because of loss of employment, sickness, and/or their Tenants did not pay rent during Covid and could not evict those tenants because of Governor Murphy’s Executive Order preventing evictions from apartments. 

Water bills in Harrison combine Water and Sewer charges.  The Sewer charge is paid to the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission (PVSC) but collected by the Town of Harrison. Water and Sewer charges are lienable on the property and can be sold to Third Parties who purchase them to collect interest and in a worst-case scenario for the property owner to foreclose on the property.

Any water and sewer bill that is not paid for the current year will be subject to a Tax sale.  The Tax Sale includes delinquent property taxes as well as delinquent water and sewer bills. At the Tax Sale, a Lien is sold for the amount of outstanding charges together will interest to the date of the Tax Sale and costs of the sale.  Interest rates for purchasers of the Lien are as high as 18%.  The purchaser of the Lien may under certain circumstances be entitled to legal fees.  In addition, the purchase of the Lien entitles the purchaser to pay subsequent outstanding property tax and water and sewer bills thus adding to the amount of the original lien.  Additional interest will accrue on the original lien as well as subsequent charges paid by the Lienholder.

The purchase of the Lien at a Tax Sale does not give the Lienholder, initially, any property rights or right to trespass on the property.   After the passage of two years from the purchase at the Tax sale and acquiring of the Tax Sale Certificate for the property, the Tax Sale Certificate holder can start foreclosure proceedings to acquire title to the property.  Non-payment of property taxes or Municipal Water and Sewer bills could lead to the loss of ownership of a property via foreclosure.  If nobody purchases the Tax sale Certificate for a particular property, the Municipality can begin the foreclosure process within 6 months of the sale.

Like other municipalities, Harrison received Federal Covid relief money via the State of New Jersey and County of Hudson.  It appears that none was allocated to assist homeowners with payment of Water & Sewer bills.  The combined Water and Sewer bills in Harrison are significantly higher than those in neighboring Kearny. 

If you are having financial difficulties, enter into the payment plan as soon as possible.  Also, ask if there is any Covid relief money allocated to assist homeowners.  You may want to consult with your attorney about contacting your Mortgage lender advising them of the inability of paying the Water and Sewer bill and they may pay the bill and add it to the amount of your Escrow.  If you get back on your feet, you will have saved a lot of interest and costs added on to the original amount owed. The Mortgage lender does not want you to lose your home because their loan is secured by your house.  A Tax lien purchaser could foreclose on the property and remove the security interest by the Mortgage lender.  It is a rare occurrence but legally possible.  The Mortgage lender would then seek full payment of the remaining loan amount from the homeowner.

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