City Turns On Spigot For Tenants In Home In Foreclosure; Landlord Bolts After Skimming Rent & Stiffing Bank, Leaving Unpaid Water Bills Behind

In Grand Rapids, Michigan, WOOD-TV Channel 8 reports:

• An apartment building left dry for five days after the landlord failed to pay the water bill has water again. A city water employee turned the valve near the curb just after 1 p.m. [Friday]. "Thank you. Now we can flush our toilets, take a shower, do our dishes," tenant Patricia Hammond told the city employee. "That's good. I'm happy." As 24 Hour News 8 reported Thursday, the city had shut off the water [...] after landlords Christina and Todd Bialas fell $702 behind in their water bill.(1) Tenants say water is included in their rent -- which totals $1,250 a month between the three occupied apartments. [...] The home [...] has been in foreclosure since April, city tax records show. The Bialases have until Oct. 8 to come up with $119,000, or the home goes back to the bank. City officials say they haven't been able to find the landlords, who own four other homes in Grand Rapids.

For the story, see Tenants get water, though bill not paid (Landlord nowhere to be found).

(1) According to an earlier story, one mom was forced to take her three young children to a neighbor's house so they could clean up. They flush their toilets with buckets of water from their neighbors. Sometimes, they walk to the nearby library to use the bathroom. Another mom was forced to temporarily cease her 2-year-old son's potty training and put him back in diapers because there was no way for him to flush the toilet. (See Tenants without H20; landlord won't pay) RentSigmaSkimming