I sold several acres to a developer 7 years ago. Part of the sales contract granted me a well connection to a community well, without charge or monthly fees. The well was drilled and I connected. The developer provided the equipment and employee to dig the water line.
Last year I received a letter from him stating he wanted over $700.00 for back monthly use fees or he woould shut off my water. I have never received a bill from him before this letter. He claims my connection to his well was only "temporary" even though our agreement says no such thing. My lawyer sent him a letter stating I was fully complying with my contract and did not owe fees. He did not shut off the water.

Last week I received another letter (very threatening tone). He now wants over $900.00 back fees or he will shut off water.

What can I do to prevent him from shutting off the water? I know I can sue if and when he does, but I have renters in this house and don't want to lose them if the water is off more than a few days. The temperature is in the 90's here now. Help!

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Originally Posted by liblumo

I sold several acres to a developer 7 years ago. Part of the sales contract granted me a well connection to a community well, without charge or monthly fees. The well was drilled and I connected. The developer provided the equipment and employee to dig the water line.
Last year I received a letter from him stating he wanted over $700.00 for back monthly use fees or he woould shut off my water. I have never received a bill from him before this letter. He claims my connection to his well was only "temporary" even though our agreement says no such thing. My lawyer sent him a letter stating I was fully complying with my contract and did not owe fees. He did not shut off the water.

Last week I received another letter (very threatening tone). He now wants over $900.00 back fees or he will shut off water.

What can I do to prevent him from shutting off the water? I know I can sue if and when he does, but I have renters in this house and don't want to lose them if the water is off more than a few days. The temperature is in the 90's here now. Help!

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The lawyer who sent the letter for you the first time...
I'd call him!

It sounds clear from what you said that the devlpr would be violating your contract if he were to shut the water off. However, lots of people do things in violation of contracts and unfortunately it's rarely a quick or simple process to get their errors corrected.

With the threatening letters he has sent I would think you would have a basis for getting some sort of injunction against him. I'm thinking of when people go to court to stop developers from destroying old buildings or cutting down trees where some endangered creature lives or something like that.

I'd also start working on a back-up plan for water for your tenants. Despite any rights you may have or any legal actions you could take none of that will physically prevent the guy from turning off the water. You'd have a great case against him, but in the mean time you'd still have tenants w/out water.

Is the guy's development going bad or something? Seems weird that he'd do this after 7 years.

Good luck,
Karla in TX

Beyond the contract, I will hope and assume this was written into the terms of the deed. Since this would only be binding to the original developer if this was just in a sales contract and not put as a restriction on the deed. If for example, he forms one corporation, that sells it to another, the contract you signed may not be binding on a new corporation.

The well agreement was supposed to have been recorded as part of the legal description but was not. I only found this out recently. Whose responsibility was it to record any restrictions? Can I do it myself at this point?

The development will be turned over to a homeowners association eventually (within a year I hope) and I will be signing a separate well agreement with them at that time. I think the developer is just trying to coerce some cash out of me before that happens. Yes, he is known to have financial problems and after checking around I have found out he has pulled some really low tricks on others. Thanks for the good advice. I will inquire about an injuction.

Another thing I just found out. Missouri law states a landlord cannot shut off water or other essential services without a court order. I understand this is not a landlord/tenant situation but the basis for this law seem to apply in this case. Any validity to this?