CLEVELAND — Cleveland Water is back at it again. During COVID, water bill liens didn’t exist. Now, customers tell News 5 Investigators there are more disputable charges happening that lead to big tax bills. It’s a process that’s been called into question before, including in an on-going federal lawsuit against Cleveland Water that calls out its tax lien tactics that critics have said unfairly target low-income Clevelanders.
We’ve reported extensively on these kinds of liens in past years that can lead to foreclosure and people losing their homes, and we are now following through with some recent consequences of questionable water liens and customers asking about where the leadership is to help with the problems.
MASSIVE WATER & SEWER BILLS, LIENS
“I just received a tax bill for $31,000 in my name because I’m power of attorney,” said Joyce Craig about a home handed down to her on Cleveland’s east side. She showed us massive water and sewer bills that eventually added up to about $50,000.
“What goes through your head when you see that?” we asked.
“That they lost their mind,” said Craig. “There’s not enough water in the world…and why would you let a bill get that high?”
Craig said she asked Cleveland Water to shut the water off, but when they came out, she said the crew had problems, and one worker even said they did damage.
“You better figure it out and get this right because you’re not going to charge that to me because your employees broke that pipe,” said Craig.
That did not stop a huge lien from being placed on the property.
Cleveland Water refused an on-camera interview. It said a leak at the home was “likely caused by frozen plumbing.” That is a common boilerplate response given to thousands of customers in the past, including Gary Adamic.
MORE PROBLEMS, SAME CANNED RESPONSE
“It was just the epitome of frustration,” said Adamic about his former Mayfield Height home. It was up for sale, however, he suddenly got abnormally high water bills despite turning the water off while it was being shown to potential buyers, he said. He called customer service, and that’s when he said he heard the same canned response — must have been a leak.
“And they would reiterate the same thing, because they can’t deviate from their script,” Adamic told us.
His supposed leak went away on its own, he said. He told us he did nothing differently at the home.
“Well, the leak stopped on November 19,” Adamic said.
“How?” we asked.
“That’s what I said,” he told us with a frustrated laugh. “They had no explanation whatsoever. It’s just completely ridiculous.” Adamic told us he ended up with a water bill lien on his house.
CLE'S POOR SATISFACTION, 'UNCHANGEABLE' SYSTEM
“The satisfaction scores we get from customers in Cleveland have been going down,” said Andrew Health, who works for JD Power. The company does continuous surveys, and this year Cleveland Water ranks next to last in the entire Midwest region. Heath said the department needs to be proactive, “So that, ideally, we’re not in a position where we’ve got resolutions that require settlements that actually just leave people dissatisfied,” he told us.
Cleveland Water claimed it is proactive with customer-accessible online meter reads and automatic notices sent out “when a meter registers 7 days of continuous usage.”
We asked the department why seven days and not after two or three. If it was a shorter time, that would save customers money and not waste a valuable resource in Northeast Ohio. The explanation? Cleveland Water said seven days is “hard coded” into the meter, and it’s not changeable.
DEPARTMENT REFUSES TO RELEASE COMPANY NAME
We asked repeatedly for the name of the company providing this unchangeable system, and instead of just giving us the name and after a nearly three-week delay, the city told us to file a public records request for that.
“It’s massive bureaucracy that is almost like a communist country,” said Adamic.
He also told us after so many obstacles, he finally just had to pay the $1,600 lien in order to sell the home. He begged for help from those who can make changes at Cleveland Water.
“If you have any type of soul, do something about this,” said Adamic. “People are out there suffering greatly.”
WHERE'S MAYOR BIBB? TALKED TOUGH, NOW SILENT
Before becoming Cleveland’s mayor, then-candidate Justin Bibb had strong criticism of the water department.
“The management has not been effective,” said Bibb during the campaign. “And it’s lacking in terms of really investing in true customer service excellence inside that department.”
He also said water bill liens and a possible ban on them needed examination.
“That is something I’m willing to take a look at absolutely,” he told us.
For this follow-through report, we asked the mayor’s office for a sit-down interview with Bibb to see how things are going at Cleveland Water since becoming mayor. You guessed it; our request was ignored.
Meanwhile, Craig’s home sits vacant and unsold. After we asked questions, Cleveland Water finally admitted to a delay in the water being shut off at the house. It reduced the tens-of-thousands-of-dollars lien to nearly $10,000 that falls under Craig’s responsibility.
“So where am I supposed to get that from, a tree?” she asked.
“You don’t have a money tree?” we inquired.
“Oh, I forgot. I sure do,” she said with a disgusted laugh.
Both Craig and Adamic said their high water bills coincided with work being done by Cleveland Water near their homes. They said they don’t think this is a coincidence.
Our reporting on Cleveland Water has led to bills being introduced in the state senate to ban water bill liens in Ohio. While politicians have said the idea needs more attention, so far, no law has been passed.
