Delinquent Bill Policy

DELINQUENT BILL POLICY RESIDENTIAL ACTIVE ACCOUNTS

Effective: 05/29/2003

Revised: 02/01/2020

DESCRIPTION

A timing schedule when bills and notices are issued/due to customers prior to termination of service.

POLICY STATEMENT

A bill is due by the due date presented on the bill. The customer receives a Regular Bill, a Delinquent Bill, and a Shut-off Notice before the service is terminated.  A Post Property notification may be left at a premise that meets the criteria advising occupants of pending service termination and detailing the requirements for them to assume responsibility for the utilities. 

PROCEDURE

If the Regular Bill is not paid within 19 days from the “billing date”, the bill becomes past due. A late payment charge will be applied to the bill if the unpaid balance is not received prior to the “received after date” printed on the bill. 

GENERATION OF MONTHLY BILLS AND NOTICES

  • Customer receives a Regular Bill
  • A Delinquent Bill is generated the following month if the customer has a balance owing from the Regular Bill 
  • A Shut-Off Notice is generated twenty-nine days after the Delinquent Bill, if the delinquent balance remains outstanding
  • An order is generated to terminate service if payment is not received by the due date on the Shut-Off Notice, except if the account circumstances allow for a Post Property
  • A Ten-Day Post Property is issued in the following circumstances:
  • The meter serves a single unit and one of the following:
    1. The account has a mailing address to a different premise than the service address
    2. The account has a Utility User Tax Exemption
    3. The account has Additional Baseline
    4. The account has water service, meets financial hardship requirements, resident has qualifying medical condition, and customer has not completed payment plan terms
  • When the Post Property is completed, a charge is added to the account for each service posted
  • If a utility service is being paid by the owner and bills are sent to a different address than the premise, the tenant has the option to take over billing from the property owner and is not required to pay the owner’s outstanding bill
  1. The tenant must meet requirements for establishing utility service
  2. A deposit of two times the average bill is required upfront
  3. Tenants are provided with information on Legal Aid
  • A Fifteen-Day Post Property is issued in the following circumstances:
  • The meter serves more than one dwelling/unit
  • When the Post Property is completed, a charge is added to the account for each service posted. The charge is based on the number of units the meter serves
  • If the account is in the name of the property owner, the tenant has the option to take over the billing from the property owner and is not required to pay the property owner’s outstanding bill
  1. The tenant must meet requirements for establishing utility service
  2. A deposit of two times the average bill is required upfront
  3. Tenants are provided with information on Legal Aid
  4. Tenants may form an association to sign up for the utility service

TERMINATION FOR NON-PAYMENT

After the customer has received all notices applicable to the account and the delinquent amounts remain unpaid after such due date, the billing system will generate an order to terminate service.

Instances where services will not be terminated for non-payment:

  • A Disputed Bill - when a bill is being disputed, the amount in dispute will not be part of any delinquency process until such dispute is resolved
  • Customer contacts the office at (562) 570-5700 or by email and provides proof that the following conditions apply:
    • Health Danger – the customer submits certification to the Department from a licensed physician that such termination will be life threatening to, or pose a serious threat to the health and safety of a resident of the premise where service is provided AND
    • Inability to Pay – the customer is financially unable to pay within the normal billing periods. The household must be a recipient of a qualified subsidized program, or the household’s annual income is less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level AND 
    • Payment Arrangements – the customer is willing to enter an amortization schedule for the delinquent amount  

MECHANISM FOR CUSTOMERS TO DISPUTE A BILL

Should a customer wish to dispute their bill, he/she must do so prior to the receipt of the shutoff notice for the dispute charges.

A bill may be disputed by contacting Utility Customer Service by:

  • Telephone (562) 570-5700
  • In person – Long Beach City Hall, 411 W. Ocean Blvd., Lobby
  • Email – GO-UtilityBilling@longbeach.gov
  • Mail – PO BOX 630 Long Beach, CA 90842

 

LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY

LONG BEACH MUNICIPAL CODE

LONG BEACH UTILITIES DEPARTMENT RULES AND REGULATIONS

California Public Utilities Code

15.40.050 Termination of Service

When. Gas service may be discontinued or refused to any premises at which the customer may be receiving gas for any of the following named causes and under regulations as follows:

  • Nonpayment of Bills. Nonpayment of a bill in the following situations: Seven (7) calendar days after presentation of a shut-off notice. A customer's service may be discontinued if a bill for gas service furnished at a previous location is not paid within seven (7) calendar days after presentation of a shut-off notice.

Long Beach Utilities Department Rules and Regulations Section Customer Services and Billing Dispute Resolution

Utility business activities for the Department are performed by the City's Utility Services Division Regulations governing the application for and termination of service, the establishment of credit, reconnection and deposit requirements, refund and forfeiture of deposits, billing, and payment of bills are established by that Division subject to the approval of the General Manager and the stipulations contained in Sections 203 through 205 of these Rules.

15.40.070 Payment of Bills

Bills for gas service shall be rendered according to registration of the meter at regular intervals and are due and payable upon presentation. Responsibility. Removal bills, special bills, bills rendered on vacation premises, or bills rendered to persons discontinuing the service, shall be paid upon presentation. Bills for connection or reconnection of service, and deposit payments for reestablishment of credit, as required by the provisions of this chapter, must be paid before service will be connected or reconnected.

When bills are delinquent, the utility may demand that the full amount of both delinquent and current bills be paid in full. (Ord. C-5713 § 1 (part), 1981: prior code § 7461.7).

8.60.150 Billing-Period

  • Regular bills for service shall be rendered at intervals prescribed by the City. Insofar as it is practicable, accounts shall be scheduled at regular intervals for the preparation of regular bills, and accounts shall be scheduled as required for the preparation of opening, closing and special bills.
  • The customer's bill shall be calculated on the basis of the number of days in the billing period times the daily charge in accordance with the rate schedule applicable to that service. (Ord. C-7057 § 14, 1992: Ord. C-5595 § 1 (part), 1980: prior code § 5220.8(b)).

California Public Utilities Code 10010.1

  • No public utility furnishing light, heat, water, or power may terminate residential service on account of nonpayment of a delinquent account unless the public utility first gives notice of the delinquency and impending termination, at least 10 days prior to the proposed termination, by means of a notice mailed, postage prepaid, to the customer to whom the service is billed, not earlier than 19 days from the date of mailing the public utility's bill for services, and the 10-day period shall not commence until five days after the mailing of the notice.
  • Every public utility shall make a reasonable attempt to contact an adult person residing at the premises of the customer by telephone or personal contact, at least 24 hours prior to any termination of service, except that, whenever telephone or personal contact cannot be accomplished, the public utility shall give, by mail, in person, or by posting in a conspicuous location at the premises, a notice of termination of service, at least 48 hours prior to termination.
  • Every public utility shall make available to its residential customers who are 65 years of age or older, or who are dependent adults as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 15610 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, a third-party notification service, whereby the public utility will attempt to notify a person designated by the customer to receive notification when the customer's account is past due and subject to termination.
  • The notification shall include information on what is required to prevent termination of service.  The residential customer shall make a request for third-party notification on a form provided by the public utility and shall include the written consent of the designated third party.  The third-party notification does not obligate the third party to pay the overdue charges, nor shall it prevent or delay termination of service.
  • Every notice of termination of service pursuant to subdivision (a) shall include all of the following information:
    • The name and address of the customer whose account is delinquent.
    • The amount of the delinquency.
    • The date by which payment or arrangements for payment is required in order to avoid termination.
    • The procedure by which the customer may initiate a complaint or request an investigation concerning service or charges, except that, if the bill for service contains a description of that procedure, the notice pursuant to subdivision (a) is not required to contain that information.
    • The procedure by which the customer may request amortization of the unpaid charges.
    • The procedure for the customer to obtain information on the availability of financial assistance, including private, local, state, or federal sources, if applicable.
    • The telephone number of a representative of the public utility who can provide additional information or institute arrangements for payment.
    Every notice of termination of service pursuant to subdivision (b) shall include the items of information in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (6), and (7).

 

All written notices shall be in a clear and legible format.

  • If a residential customer fails to comply with an amortization agreement, the public utility shall not terminate service without giving notice to the customer at least 48 hours prior to termination of the conditions the customer is required to meet to avoid termination, but the notice does not entitle the customer to further investigation by the public utility.
  • No termination of service may be affected without compliance with this section.  Any service wrongfully terminated shall be restored without charge for the restoration of service, and a notation thereof shall be mailed to the customer at his or her billing address.

California Public Utilities Code 10009.

  • Whenever a public utility furnishes individually metered residential light, heat, water, or power to residential occupants in a multiunit residential structure, mobile-home park, or permanent residential structures in a labor camp, as defined in Section 17008 of the Health and Safety Code, where the owner, manager, or operator is listed by the public utility as the customer of record, the public utility shall make every good faith effort to inform the residential occupants, by means of a notice, when the account is in arrears, that service will be terminated in 10 days.  The notice shall further inform the residential occupants that they have the right to become customers of the public utility without being required to pay the amount due on the delinquent account.
  • The public utility 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 and the public utility's rules.  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 public utility, or if there is a physical means, legally available to the public utility, of selectively terminating service to those residential occupants who have not met the requirements of the public utility's rules, the public utility shall make service available to the residential occupants who have met those requirements.

10009.1

  • Whenever a public utility furnishes light, heat, water, or power to residential occupants through a master meter in a multiunit residential structure, mobile home park, or permanent residential structures in a labor camp, as defined in Section 17008 of the Health and Safety Code, where the owner, manager, or operator is listed by the public utility as the customer of record, the public utility shall make every good faith effort to inform the residential occupants, by means of a written notice posted on the door of each residential unit at least 15 days prior to termination, when the account is in arrears, that service will be terminated on a date specified in the notice.  If it is not reasonable or practicable to post the notice on the door of each residential unit, the public utility shall post two copies of the notice in each accessible common area and at each point of access to the structure or structures. The notice shall further inform the residential occupants that they have the right to become utility customers, to whom the service will then be billed, without being required to pay the amount due on the delinquent account.  The notice also shall specify, in plain language, what the residential occupants are required to do in order to prevent the termination or reestablish service; the estimated monthly cost of service; the title, address, and telephone number of a representative of the public utility who can assist the residential occupants in continuing service; and the address and telephone number of a legal services project, as defined in Section 6213 of the Business and Professions Code, which has been recommended by the local county bar association.  The notice shall be in English and, to the extent practical, in any other language that the public utility determines is the primary language spoken by a significant number of the residential occupants.
  • The public utility is not required to make service available to the residential occupants unless each residential occupant or a representative of the residential occupants agrees to the terms and conditions of service and meets the requirements of law and the public utility's rules.  However, if one or more of the residential occupants or the representative of the residential occupants are willing and able to assume responsibility for subsequent charges to the account to the satisfaction of the public utility, or if there is a physical means, legally available to the public utility, of selectively terminating service to those residential occupants who have not met the requirements of the public utility's rules or for whom the representative of the residential occupants is not responsible, the public utility shall make service available to the residential occupants who have met those requirements or on whose behalf those requirements have been met.

 

 

 

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