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LUZERNE — Several residents plan to make their voices heard at Tuesday’s monthly Sewer Authority meeting after they were notified of liens placed on their properties stemming from unpaid sewer bills that they claim to have never received.
According to the Luzerne County Court records, between Dec. 15, 2023 and Dec. 28, 2023, liens on 83 properties were filed with the Luzerne County Prothonotary Office by the Luzerne Borough Sewer Authority. Because of this, residents must pay the amount they owe to the sewer authority as well as late fees, a lien filing fee and a solicitor’s fee in order to get the lien removed.
According to sewer authority Solicitor Jonathan Spohrer, a judgment lien is placed on a property for the purpose of securing unpaid debt. It prevents property owners from making any other kind of financial transaction in regards to the property, such as remortgaging, until the debit is paid.
The Luzerne Borough Sewer Authority fee must be paid annually and is in addition to the quarterly payments residents pay to the Wyoming Valley Sanitation Authority.
Mary Niccoli, 72, of Huntington Mills, who owns an apartment on Main Street that she rents out to tenants, said she will pay her bill, but does not believe she should have to pay the late fees because she did not actually receive the bill or a late notice.
Niccoli inherited the apartment when her mother passed away in 2018. At the time, she did receive a sewer bill for 2018 and 2019, but the fees were waved because she was never notified. She assumed that when it came time to pay the bill again, she would receive it in the mail.
“I never got another bill and never thought about it because I live in Huntington Mills. Then, in the beginning of January, I get this notice,” she said.
That notice explained that there was a lien placed on her property and she owed $670.95 for two years worth of late sewer bills.
“I immediately tried to get in touch with Luzerne Borough, but the secretary would not answer the phone, nobody would answer the phone,” she explained.
Efforts to reach Linda Booth, who serves as both the secretary for the borough council and the billing representative for the sewer authority, were not immediately successful.
Niccoli was confused as to why the bill was never sent to her residence in Huntington Mills or the apartment on Main Street. Niccoli explained that her tenants always put mail in the mail box in the hallway of the apartment if it’s addressed to her, but she never received anything.
Sewer Authority Solicitor Jonathan Spohrer explained that Realtors and real estate lawyers typically notify buyers of the fees they’re responsible for as property owners at the time of closing. Because the borough has no way of keeping track of every property transfer, it is the property owner’s responsibility to make sure the borough has the updated mailing information in order to send out bills.
Because of this, it is possible that residents did not receive bills because those bills were being mailed to the previous property owners instead.
Spohrer said that when he received the list of delinquent accounts, several of them did not contain the current homeowner’s contact information. He had to go through tax assessment records in order to obtain the correct information and that “a handful of records didn’t match up.”
After purchases her home on Bennett Street in 2018, Tina Pimble, 54, said that she was never made aware of the borough sewer bill by her real estate agent or anyone else and assumed that the one for the Wyoming Valley Sanitation Authority was the only one she had to pay.
Pimble was “blindsided” when she received the lien notice about three weeks ago, saying she owed $254.84. Pimble was angry and frustrated by this. In the roughly 30 years that she’s been a homeowner, nothing like this has ever happened to her.
“I absolutely do not want to pay this lawyer and I don’t want to pay the courthouse. It’s not my fault,” Pimble said.
Pimble hopes to get answers at Tuesday’s meeting.
“All I know is that it’s a big expense to get this (lien) off my property and I don’t have it. People don’t understand. Everything has gone up, our water bill, our regular sewer bill. Now they want this?” she said.
When asked if she contacted the borough in regards to the bill, Pimble said, “Not one time has the borough ever answered any of my calls ever for anything.”
Additionally, Pimble said it would have been impossible for her to notify the sewer authority of buying her home since she didn’t know the bill existed in the first place.
By speaking up at the meeting, Pimble hopes this miscommunication will be cleared up so that it doesn’t happen to anyone else.
Spohrer, who will be attending the meeting virtually, said that he understands the frustration residents feel and that he knows “everyone’s financial situation is different.”
“We’re willing to listen, but the answer is going to be the same,” Spohrer said.
Now that residents are aware of the bill, the solicitor explained there are a variety of repayment options available, including payment plans, to get property owner’s accounts current.
The Luzerne Borough Sewer Authority will meet Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the Borough Building located at 144 Academy St.