The City of San Antonio approved measures on Thursday to ensure water service will not be shut off to residents who live in apartment complexes that are delinquent on paying their water utility bill.
City Council passed an amendment to the city code that stipulates if a water customer, such as an apartment complex owner or manager, doesn’t pay the minimum on their water or sewer bill on time, the San Antonio Water System can place a legal claim on that property, ensuring SAWS can eventually recoup the money it’s owed — even if the property is sold. The resolution passed unanimously with no discussion.
“Today, City Council took a stand in support of renters and against an injustice,” Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2) told the San Antonio Report. “When we’ve gotten calls from tenants who received notice their water is being shut off, at no fault of their own, the feeling of helplessness is heartbreaking. It remains my mission to ensure that bad acting landlords and apartment complexes are held accountable, and that the safety and wellbeing of my constituents remains in tact. Passage of this item was an incredible step in that direction.”
The city’s decision comes after heated discussions with SAWS on how to recover unpaid bills, following an incident in June when the utility temporarily cut off water to four apartment complexes, impacting around 600 units. Tenants reported that they had paid their bills on time, but the problem arose because the apartment managers had not.
One of the managers, Gloria Farias, who acts as landlord and property manager for two of those complexes and who represents Los Angeles-based nonprofit Pico Union Housing Corporation, argued that lingering effects from the COVID-19 pandemic are truly at fault. Farias told the San Antonio Report in July that overdue tenants who have gotten behind on their rent and the pandemic’s eviction moratorium have left her operating in a major deficit.
In August, the city filed a lawsuit against Pico Union Housing Corporation and Farias for not bringing several of its buildings up to code despite multiple warnings. The suit named 95 code violations against the nonprofit’s San Antonio properties, including electrical hazards, infestations, broken air conditioners, fire damage and sewage leaks.
Farias pleaded guilty in municipal court to four citations, including two violations at Westwood Plaza Apartments. Pico Union was slapped with an $8,000 fine, and in return, the court dismissed eight citations against Farias.
That same month, McKee-Rodriguez and Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito (D7) filed a Council Consideration Request asking city staff to seek a way to keep renters from experiencing water utility shutoffs due to nonpayment by their landlord or property manager.
The request also called for the amending of the city’s Proactive Apartment Inspections Program to impose penalties on landlords who neglect utility payments, as well as for SAWS policies and procedures for communication with these property owners or managers to be “accurate, timely and also follow a consistent process.”
The request was referred to the council’s Municipal Utilities Committee and discussed in the February and March committee meetings. The committee recommended granting SAWS authority to attach liens to certain properties for delinquent bills and updating the city’s Proactive Apartment Inspection Program to allow automatic accrual of program points to properties if water service is disconnected on a master meter.
SAWS’ board of trustees approved the measure at its board meeting on Tuesday.
As of March, the water utility has about 83,000 delinquent accounts, or about 14% of its accounts total, only about 700 of which are apartment complexes. SAWS is currently owed roughly $18.8 million from late payers, $2.8 million of which is from apartment complexes.
The average delinquent apartment complex owes SAWS roughly $3,922, according to SAWS data.
