POST-TRANSFER HEADACHES: Sold your Joburg home? Why utility bills may still arrive months later

Selling a home and transferring ownership should mark the end of a resident’s relationship with their old municipal account. Yet, many former homeowners in Johannesburg continue to receive monthly bills from the City of Johannesburg.One of them is journalist (and former Business Maverick staffer) Ruan Jooste, who sold her property in March to move to Cape Town. Despite closing her account and completing the transfer months ago, she has continued to receive utility bills for the new owner. To complicate matters further, when the new tenant tried to create a new account in their name, they were informed that the electrical meter installed was illegal and slapped with a R14,000 bill, despite Jooste receiving a certificate of clearance before transferring the property.“And I wrote them a scathing email, like, excuse me, firstly, when was it reported that it was illegal? Who did the inspection? Where’s the inspection report? And I sent a long email to City Power and they still haven’t returned my call,” she said.As a result, she has to manually send the utility bills to the new tenant so he can pay them. Although it isn’t her responsibility, she feels empathetic. She was in the situation when she first moved into her previous house in Kensington, and after nearly a year of the City sending the bills to the previous owner, her electricity was unexpectedly switched off.“I haven’t paid anything because it’s not in my name. I looked at the bill and you can see the deposit that he paid reflects on my bill. So it’s still in negative territory, but until that runs out, I don’t know what’s going to happen. That probably will cut him off,” she said.When she posted about her situation on X, she found that she wasn’t alone. Some residents reported continuing to receive utility bills months after transferring their old properties. Others reported receiving bills for properties sold as far back as 2014.The City had not responded to requests for comment at the time of writing. Previous owners not legally liableDaily Maverick reached out to HouseHoppers, a company that assists residents with moving and transferring their utility accounts. Kylie Rhodes, a commercial manager who specialises in utility transfers, said that the first thing residents in this position should know is that they are not legally liable for any bills sent after the transfer has been completed.“Once the transfer goes through, it takes roughly about six to eight weeks for the city of Johannesburg’s land information system to update.“So the account opening and account closing can only be done once their system is updated,” she explained.Before a transfer can proceed, seller accounts must be settled. Residents make a final clearance payment to receive a clearance certificate, which confirms there are no outstanding debts on the account.Once an account closure request is processed, the City is required to backdate charges to the transfer date, crediting the seller’s account and billing the new owner. Additionally, municipal rates refunds are never paid directly to the homeowner; they are disbursed exclusively to the conveyancing attorney, who then transfers the funds to the seller.Why you shouldn’t settle post-transfer billsRhodes strongly advises residents against paying any utility bills generated after the transfer date.“If you make payments after the transfer date, you will need to submit bank-stamped proof of payment for every transaction to claim it back, which is where things become complicated,” she said.Residents who continue paying run the risk of their municipal refunds being delayed or even rejected.While the City has introduced minor automated improvements, delays remain frequent. Logged account closure requests often sit stagnant for months while billing statements and interest charges continue to accumulate on paper.Furthermore, recent structural shifts, like the regionalisation of City of Johannesburg customer service centres, mean that residents are forced to take a more proactive approach in ensuring accounts on previous properties are closed.“I would recommend: check to see what region your property falls under. Go to that regional office, get your reference logged, and make sure that you get updates. If it means phoning in to get an update or you have to physically go to the offices constantly until you get it done,” Rhodes advised.“Unfortunately, you can’t just put the request in with them and expect that it’ll get done. You have to do the follow-ups and sometimes it’s better in person.For residents navigating Johannesburg’s ongoing billing crisis, the advice is clear: keep all reference numbers, follow up relentlessly with regional municipal offices, and refrain from settling utility debts generated after the legal transfer of your property. DM