My daughter and her husband bought a home in Bismarck back in January. Today, they got a bill for $575 from the city for some concrete work the city had done in their neighborhood. They know nothing about this work, or when it was done, and it's possible it was done before they even went under contract on this house. So my question is, is this something that should have been disclosed to them during the buying process? Would the previous homeowner in any way be liable for this charge if it was incurred while he was the homeowner?

Thanks

That should have been disclosed and handled at closing, sounds like the seller "forgot" about it.

Tell them to go down to the city and get and explanation. At some point adults need to figure things out for themselves. I have been a home owner for several decades and have never heard of such a thing. Usually done through taxes.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
That should have been disclosed and handled at closing, sounds like the seller "forgot" about it.

Yup. Cheaper to pay it than fight it.

Just personal opinion/similar experience, so...

1) I've never heard of a City billing a homeowner for work. Let alone done "elsewhere" in the subdivision.
2) If it is a valid debt, the prior homeowner and/or their agent should have disclosed it. The company which handled the closing should have "discovered" and disclosed it as well.
3) Assuming they bought title insurance, then the title insurer would pay the bill. Personally, we had about $26k in mechanics liens filed against our first home as the builder went bankrupt right after we closed and they did not pay all the subcontractors. Our title insurer ended up paying off the liens.

Regardless if I was them, I would call the City and ask them to explain the bill etc.

Is it possible they are in an unincorporated area near the city in question and the city will sometimes be contracted to perform certain work by , maybe a homeowners association? Splitting the cost among residents.

Otherwise, this is always done through taxes. Everywhere.

Probably spam.

Not enough information. Is this even a legit bill from the city?

Sounds like an assessment, which should have been discovered by a title search before closing. I'd turn it over to the title insurance carrier and let them sort it out.

Not enough info, but that sounds more like a HOA Special Assessment. Basically a one time bill in addition to their Homeowners Association fee to cover the cost of non-routine work that is done to the neighborhood common areas, like emergency street repairs or a big community pool upgrade.

I've never heard of a city directly billing a homeowner for their share of work on a city street. Their share of that comes out of their taxes.

Sounds to me like SPAM.

The City pays for repairs to City streets from tax monies levied from home owners.

Private streets are another matter.

quote:

Originally posted by DaveL:
Sounds like an assessment, which should have been discovered by a title search before closing. I'd turn it over to the title insurance carrier and let them sort it out.

Yes it does sound like a special assessment, which is not uncommon and is supposed to be found out in the title process, and should be covered by title insurance. I catch errors in title reports FREQUENTLY. Many of the title researchers are not good at their job. Checking in with the city that billed it, is not a bad place to start...what's the date on the notice of assessment? before or after the close date?

quote:

Originally posted by GWbiker:
Sounds to me like SPAM.

The City pays for repairs to City streets from tax monies levied from home owners.

Private streets are another matter.

Many cities will assess upgrades and repairs to the local affected neighborhood as a special assessment. It is a common thing.

They need to find out the date this was done and contact the closing attorney next if it was prior to closing or known before closing.

Like others said probably a special assessment. It's a thing in ND.

I sold my HOA obligation for $300,000. and gave the guy my house.

Never again.

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
I sold my HOA obligation for $300,000. and gave the guy my house.

Never again.

You've just had experiences with the wrong HOA.

The one I'm in is great and doesn't give anyone heartburn unless they really let their property go down the toilet.

It's also great for stopping people from making the streets a car repair garage.

I have 20 acres, the back is part of a mountain and heavy woods, one side is heavy woods and 100x50 yards of 40 foot bamboo. The other side has trees between me and that neighbor, so the neighbors can do whatever they please.

And, an HOA is a crapshoot. Can be the best thing since pockets on pants, and next election, turn into an absolute nightmare.

I am no longer interested in anyone interfering with me, and am reducing all I can with interaction with others to my choosing.

And I do car repairs.

quote:

Originally posted by 4x5:
They know nothing about this work

Until they do, there's no reason to guess. The city should be willing to provide details - usually a bill like that has some return address or cover sheet that would let you know which agency/department/bureau to contact.

After they find out what it is for and when the work was done, then they'll know enough to determine if any of this predates the sale/closing, and if so whether a friendly chat with the folks who were involved in the home purchase might be in order.

We have a property that had to be connected to the sewer system. We had a choice of paying the cost upfront or have it added to the property tax bill for 30 years.