§ 38:22 — Liens and Collection of Charges

I. Except as provided in paragraph III, all charges for services furnished to patrons by a municipally owned electric, gas, water, or wastewater utility shall create a lien upon the real estate where such services are furnished.
II. Except as provided in paragraph III, a municipality may use any of the following collection procedures for charges and the use of one collection procedure for one service shall not preclude the use of a different collection procedure for another service:
(a) A municipality may commit bills for charges to the tax collector with a warrant signed by the appropriate municipal officials requiring the tax collector to collect them. The tax collector shall have the same rights and remedies, including a lien on the real estate, and be subject to the same liabilities in relation thereto as in the collection of taxes as provided in RSA 80; provided, however, that the real estate lien shall continue for 18 months from the date of the last unpaid bill.
(b) The official or board responsible for administering the municipal utility may collect charges for services by direct billing on any periodic basis it may choose. All charges which are delinquent may be committed to the tax collector with a warrant signed by the appropriate municipal officials requiring the tax collector to collect them. The tax collector shall have the same rights and remedies, including a lien on the real estate, and be subject to the same liabilities in relation thereto as in the collection of taxes as provided in RSA 80; provided, however, that the real estate lien shall continue for 18 months from the date of the last unpaid bill.
(c) If the official or board responsible for administering the municipal utility has not committed the charges to the collector of taxes, the municipality shall have a lien upon the real estate where the services were furnished and the lien shall continue for 18 months from the date of the last unpaid bill, unless the municipality records in the registry of deeds for the county in which the land is situated a notice of lien, in which case the lien shall continue for 6 years from the date of the last unpaid bill. The lien may be enforced in a suit by the municipality against the owner of the real estate. In such a suit, the municipality shall have the right to a judgment for per year charges, interest at the rate of 12 percent from the date of the last unpaid bill to the date of judgment, and costs. The records in the municipal department which furnished the services shall be sufficient notice to maintain suit upon the lien against subsequent purchasers or attaching creditors of the real estate.
(d) When the services were furnished to some person or legal entity other than the owner of the real estate, the liens provided for in this paragraph shall be effective against the owner of the real estate only for charges of which the owner of the real estate was notified by the municipality within 120 days of the date the charges became delinquent; provided, however, that a municipality may meet these notice requirements by mailing to the owner of the real estate copies of the bills for services at the same time bills are furnished to the person or legal entity which received the services.
(e) The tax collector under subparagraph (a), or the person responsible for issuing bills under subparagraph (b), may issue bills or notices by electronic means only after the customer requests such delivery. There shall be no charge for delivery of bills or notices by electronic means and there shall be no penalty for not choosing to elect delivery by electronic means. Any request for electronic delivery of bills or notices shall contain the physical signature of the customer or an electronic signature conforming to the requirements of the federal Electronic Signatures Act of 2000, Public Law 106-229, or its successor. Any agreement executed by a customer to receive tax bills by electronic means shall contain a description of the delivery system proposed to be used and shall contain clear instructions on the method for terminating such delivery. In the event that the tax collector or other person responsible for sending bills or notices has any reason to believe that bills or notices sent by electronic means have failed to be delivered, such person shall promptly send a duplicate of the bills or notices to the customer by first class mail. A duplicate bill or notice mailed in compliance with this requirement shall be at no cost to the customer. Second and subsequent notices of payments due, or notices of delinquency, shall be sent by first class mail. Sending a bill as provided in this paragraph shall not change the last date that bills may be paid without penalty.
III. No municipally owned electric, gas, water, or wastewater utility shall perform non-emergency work with a total cost in excess of $250 per project on facilities on customer property beyond the utility's final shutoff point or the point at which the property owner is responsible for construction or maintenance, or both, unless a written contract has been executed and signed between the owner or an authorized representative of the property and an authorized representative of the utility. The contract shall include the terms of the work to be performed, the name and address of the property owner, the location of the work to be performed, the estimated price of the work, the time of completion, and any other agreed upon stipulations relating to the project. No lien shall be placed on the property for such work in the absence of such a contract.

Legislative History

1997, 206:1, eff. July 1, 1997. 2012, 178:1, eff. Aug. 10, 2012. 2013, 109:3, eff. Aug. 23, 2013.