Attorney or Real Estate Agent Question???

[lilwhitelie]

Sold my house in August. Now the closing attorney calls me today stating the buyers are trying to lease the house out and I have an outstanding waste management bill that needs to be paid. Was that part of her job as their closing attorney and do I have to pay it. These buyers nickled and dimed me to death and if I have to pay it I will but if I don't then I aint. Just seems the attorney dropped the ball now she is trying to ask me nicely to pay THEIR waste management bill.

[regishay]

I wouldnt, its not yours anymore. When you sign the papers and got a check, unless its something you didnt disclose like termites or foundation problems I really wouldnt think it was your responsibility.

[lilwhitelie]

Thats what I am thinking but want some legal or real estate help to make sure before I tell them to have a nice day.

[Damn_It_Boy]

You no longer own the property, or any debt attached to it. The attorney will have to eat this one. Just like if they screw up on the taxes......... Wave bye bye at em///////

[lilwhitelie]

You no longer own the property, or any debt attached to it. The attorney will have to eat this one. Just like if they screw up on the taxes......... Wave bye bye at em///////

You sure on that??? If so I will say more than bye bye!!

[Deltaquack]

If it goes with the address........then it's their problem as yes, it's the closing attorney's job to look over all that. If it's attached to your name (i.e. an established account/credit sort of thing using your social security number) it would be on you but if that was the case it would be forwarded on to you and have nothing to do with them setting up a new account. Sounds to me like the closing attorney didn't do their job. In my neck of the woods it's your own account so you have a deposit on file with them and still owe the bill and it would be forwarded on with all my mail to my new address.

[Damn_It_Boy]

Sure, but doesn't keep Waste management from trying to screw up your credit.........keep an eye on that. They will be looking for someone to pay the debt, but legally, you no longer are attatched to the property. I'm not an attorney by any means, but I did stay in a holiday inn express last week........

[eSJay]

Not a lawyer or pretend to know the legal answer to this question, so I'll have to play the moral card here. Was it your garbage that WM processed for an agreed fee? In other words, were the serviced rendered before the sale? If so, How is it someone else’s responsibility to pay your bills? Surely I missed a very important detail in the original question. In my opinion, you should have settled your debt prior to selling the house. How much money are we talking about here anyway? - just wondering.

[gps4]

when someone moves out of a place, seems to me that it is the responsibility of the account holder to close all outstanding accounts, regardless of who owns the real property. if your name is on the account, its going to follow you. i suspect the buyers of your house only bought the real property and improvements, and didnt agree to take on your outstanding balances for utilities and waste disposal services. now the new property owners cant make you pay it, but they can get alternative waste disposal services and since your name is on the waste management account, don't be surpised if it shows up on a credit report late ron down the road. its probably worth paying now before it wrecks your credit rating.

[dadbennett]

Sold my house in August. Now the closing attorney calls me today stating the buyers are trying to lease the house out and I have an outstanding waste management bill that needs to be paid. Was that part of her job as their closing attorney and do I have to pay it. These buyers nickled and dimed me to death and if I have to pay it I will but if I don't then I aint. Just seems the attorney dropped the ball now she is trying to ask me nicely to pay THEIR waste management bill.

You just said," I have an outstanding WM bill that needs to be paid". You probably owe it then. It should be treated just like utilities, water, etc. unless it was defined different in your sales contract. Was it in the county or city. Usually city is tied in with the water. You should've notified WM and closed your account as of the date the house sold.

[turkeyman]

justin is your waste not conected to your water bill. ours is all together. also they would not be able to have the water cut on if you had not paid it in full (cant have two water bills at same location) also i wouldnt think they would let them have two waste bills at the same house. that protects that company.

[matador1]

Attorney is not responsible for bills such as this if they are not "attached" to the title in the form of a lien of some type. You created the debt, you will ultimatly be responsible for it I suspect.

[Seymore]

Sounds like the waste company put a lien on the property at the courthouse which is a public record that the attorney is supposed to look at when they do their title opinion. If they missed it then their errors and omissions insurance will cover it or the title insurance if that is the route that was taken. Same thing as your not paying a bill and a judgment being enrolled at the circuit clerk's office in the county where the property is. If the attorney misses the judgment the lien cloud still remains on the property and the attorney is going to have to fix it.

Not commenting on the moral and ethics involved, just the way the title opinon and insurance would work.

[Agua]

Not enough information here to know whether you are personally responsible to the waste mangagement service provider (aside from, what I'm gathering, is a lien on the property you sold). Be advised, however, if the attorney pays for it, even if there was negligence in the title review and it was overlooked, the attorney can still recover from you for unjust enrichment. We've done this a couple times.

[lilwhitelie]

Was not billed with water bill...heck I never even got a bill for it. I always payed it when I got my tag. I was just wondering why the attorney did not see this error and fix it before we closed. Not to mention the buyers were real pains in the assets!!!! The attorney was their friend so I am sure they paid nothing and they did a half ass job but I am gonna take care of it now and guess I am gonna be paying for their 2 months of service as well they have been receiving.