Upper Moreland-Hatboro Joint Sewer Authority

For the purposes of this memorandum, the customer of the UMHJSA will be identified as **and *** ***I received a phone call on September 8, from *** ***She had talked to several of the front office staff and was not happy with their replies, so she asked to speak with someone
different until the call got to meWith Kathy D*** being announced as being on the call, she told me that they had just received a lien notice, since their mail was held between July through Labor Day, and she wanted the lien fee removedl told her I would look into the situation and call her backI reviewed her payment history (attached), which showed that she and her husband generally paid their quarterly sewer bill on a somewhat regular basis through April No additional payments were made on their quarterly bill between May 1, and April 1, 2016, so the property was liened on April 4, for $549,A payment of $was received on April 25, 206, bringing the balance to $This amount did not satisfy the liened amount, Several months passed and there were to additional payments made on this accountOn August 23, a letter was sent to **& *** *** advising that their water service would be terminated on September 6, for non-payment of their sewer billOn August 29, a payment of $was received, which brought the account to a zero balanceThe lien was then satisfied by the Montgomery County Prothonotary on September 26, 2016.No additional payments were made since August 29, and the quarterly bills continued to increase the balance, along with the penalties, UMHJSA tried to contact them by phone and mail to remind them that their bill was overdue, but we did not hear from themOn July 6, 2017, UMHJSA sent them a letter regular mail stating that their account was overdue, and they need to bring their account current or their property would be lieued on July 20, No communication was received and on July 20, 2017, UMHJSA added a lien fee of $to their account and sent the paperwork to the Montgomery County Prothonotary's office to put a lien on the propertyOnce the paperwork came back, UMHSA sent a certified letter dated July 31, to **& *** ***, informing them that a lien had been placed on the propertyThe Post office attempted to deliver the certified letter beginning on August 8, (after an apparent vacation hold) and since it was not picked up, they sent it back to UMHSA on September 5, (see attached)On September 6, 2017, UMHJSA resent a copy of the letter regular mail.I called her back with Kathy D*** on the callShe stated that her husband made a payment in August ($on August 8", over months after their last payment on their quarterly bill) and no one mentioned that the property had been lieredI asked why her husband came in to pay since their mail was being held during and after that pointShe stated that it was held until the beginning of August, which appears to be consistent with the certified letter notationI asked why they had failed to pick up the certified letter and she stated that they had never received notification of the letterShe said she received a letter dated July 31, in an envelope dated September 6, We explained that that same letter was sent certified on July 31, 2017, and the same letter was resent when the certified letter was returned from the post office since the notifications had failed to result in the letter being picked up by **and *** ***.| informed her that I) we were treating her like any other customer, 2) that the quarterly bills were being sent to their address, along with reminder letters and were being ignored, and 3) the lien was a real cost to UMHJSA,Also, when reviewing the payment history pattern, the dates of mailed communication and subsequent communications, and the inconsistencies in the story, her claim that they received no letters from UMHJSA when her husband came in a week after the lien notification was submitted (and apprently the day after the vacation hold was up), it appeared that there were no special circumstances that would warrant modification to our standard collection practicesTherefore, informed her that the lien would not be removed until payment was made in fullThe Jien amount and fee was paid on September 8, On September 14, UMHJSA sent notification to the Montgomery County Prothonotary's office requesting them to satisfy the lienOnce it is returned a copy of the satisfied lien will be sent to **and *** ***