Sunrise, FL Attorney
Attorney for Sunrise Homeowners, Landlords, and Families
Sunrise, in west central Broward, was incorporated on June 22, 1961 as the City of Sunrise Golf Village, according to the Sunrise Police Department’s agency history. The City runs its own utility: its water and sewer system reaches beyond the city limits into Southwest Ranches, parts of Weston and Davie, and some unincorporated land, and the City describes its natural gas system as the only city-owned gas utility in South Florida. Because a utility balance can follow the property, those accounts matter when a Sunrise home is bought, rented out, divided in a divorce, or carried through a bankruptcy. Arturo R. Alfonso P.A. takes Broward real estate, family law, and bankruptcy matters in English and Spanish, with 30 years of practice in South Florida. The firm has one office, at 7821 Coral Way in Miami; Sunrise clients can meet there, by phone, or by video. Call (305) 266-9584 or request a free consultation.
Sunrise Utility Accounts: What Follows the Property
The City’s account forms tie the balance to the property. The City of Sunrise utility account application for property owners has the applicant acknowledge that unpaid utility account balances constitute a lien on the real property, and that the property owner is responsible for unpaid balances on prior owner accounts. Forms change, so confirm the current version with City utility customer service at (954) 746-3232.
For a buyer, the question belongs before closing. A City utility balance is a separate number that has to be asked for. Request it, and ask the City Clerk’s office about municipal liens, early enough that any amount owed can be paid from the seller’s proceeds at closing. Our Q&A on liens when selling a home explains how liens are cleared at closing, and our title search and title insurance page covers what a search reaches.
Landlords: state law limits liens for a former tenant’s bill. Fla. Stat. 180.135(1) says a municipality may not refuse or discontinue utility, water, or sewer service to the owner of a rental unit, or to a tenant or prospective tenant, because a former occupant left charges unpaid. Those charges also will not be the basis for a lien against the rental property or for legal action against the present tenant or owner, except to the extent either benefited directly from the service. The protection applies only if the former occupant contracted for the service, or the municipality served the former occupant knowing his or her name and the service period. That makes the name on a Sunrise rental’s account important.
When the tenant does not pay. The same statute, in subsection (4), still lets a municipality discontinue service to a tenant who is 30 days or more in arrears, and it lets a landlord begin eviction proceedings when a tenant under part II of chapter 83 fails to pay those service charges. A landlord may not cut off the utilities on his or her own; that is a prohibited practice under Fla. Stat. 83.67. See our landlord-tenant and eviction page.
Sunrise deeds are recorded by Broward County’s Records, Taxes and Treasury Division rather than the Clerk of Courts. Documentary stamp tax on a deed is 70 cents per $100 of consideration (Fla. Stat. 201.02), with no equivalent of the surtax that applies to some Miami-Dade transfers. Florida law does not require an attorney to close a sale; read title company or attorney closing, how we handle residential closings, how a title search and title insurance work, and our real estate law services.
Courts, Divorce, and Bankruptcy for Sunrise Clients
Sunrise cases are heard in Broward’s Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, not Miami-Dade’s Eleventh. The Broward Clerk directs family cases (Family Division, Room 04130), domestic violence, county civil, small claims, evictions, and foreclosures to the Central Courthouse West Building at 201 SE 6th Street in Fort Lauderdale, and Attorney Alfonso appears there when a case requires it. The circuit’s West Regional Courthouse, at 100 North Pine Island Road in neighboring Plantation, is where the Clerk’s directory lists County Civil West (Room 170) and Marriage West (Room 180). Go where your notice directs you. Our Broward County page lists the other county offices.
In a divorce, the Sunrise house often comes with City water, sewer, and gas accounts in only one spouse’s name. Because the City’s forms treat an unpaid balance as a lien on the property, the agreement should say who pays those bills until the house is sold or the deed transfers, and whose name the accounts move into. At least one spouse must have lived in Florida for six months before filing (Fla. Stat. 61.021), and the court begins from the premise that marital assets are divided equally unless there is a justification for an unequal split (Fla. Stat. 61.075(1)). See who gets the house and our family law services.
Bankruptcy cases from Sunrise are filed in the Fort Lauderdale Division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida, 299 East Broward Boulevard. Under 11 U.S.C. 366(a), a utility may not alter, refuse, or discontinue service, or discriminate against the debtor, solely because the case was filed or because a bill for service before the filing was not paid when due. Under 366(b), the utility may do so if, within 20 days after the order for relief, the debtor or trustee does not furnish adequate assurance of payment in the form of a deposit or other security. Old utility bills are generally among the debts a discharge can cover, as our Q&A on what debts bankruptcy wipes out explains, but a balance the City treats as a lien on a home should be reviewed before filing. Start with Florida bankruptcy exemptions and whether you could lose your house in bankruptcy, then see our bankruptcy law services.
Common Questions
If I buy a Sunrise home, can the seller’s unpaid utility bill become my problem? The City of Sunrise owner account forms say unpaid utility account balances constitute a lien on the real property and that the property owner is responsible for unpaid balances on prior owner accounts. Ask for the balance before closing so any amount owed can be paid from the seller’s proceeds.
My former tenant left an unpaid Sunrise water bill. Can it become a lien on my rental? Fla. Stat. 180.135 says a former occupant’s unpaid charges will not be the basis for a lien against the rental property, except to the extent the present tenant or owner benefited directly, and only if the former occupant contracted for the service or the City provided it knowing the occupant’s name and service period.
Contact Us
Whether you are buying a Sunrise home and want the utility balance settled before closing, renting one out and sorting out whose name the water and gas accounts belong in, dividing a house and its bills in a divorce, or weighing bankruptcy with a utility balance on the property, Attorney Alfonso can review your documents in English or Spanish from our Miami office, by phone, or by video. Hablamos español. Call (305) 266-9584 or contact us to schedule a free consultation.
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