Summit Sun Investments LLC, owned by Naomi Ewald, is a business that purchases, restores and resells local properties, according to the complaint. An attorney representing the business did not return a request for comment.
Montgomery County County Environmental Services spokeswoman Megan O’Leary said her department does not comment on pending litigation.
The business purchased a location on Far Hills Avenue in Dayton in 2023. Before that property’s purchase, the title search came up free and clear, according to the complaint; no delinquent utility assessments also came up for the property.
The filing says the business contacted the county to switch water services over to its name and was told the previous owner left an existing water and sewer bill balance, resulting in water being turned off at the property.
Water department workers told the business’ owner that water would not be turned back on unless the delinquency was paid off, the complaint says. This $5,750 bill included the delinquent balance, shut off fees, late payment fees and more.
Summit Sun Investments paid the delinquency in order to set up its water and sewer services.
A copy of Montgomery County Environmental Services rules and regulations, last updated in 2016, states that water bill delinquencies are the responsibility of the current property owner, “even if they were not the owner of the property when the charges were accrued.”
“If a bill remains unpaid, the service shall be subject to termination and additional fees may be applied,” the rules state. “Service shall not be restored until all delinquencies and charges associated with the parcel are paid.”
Other county water providers, including Greene, have similar policies for delinquent bills.
Montgomery County’s rules and regulations states that “it reserves the right to use all legal means to collect debt,” including special assessments to property taxes. The lawsuit alleges this practice is not legal under the Ohio Revised Code.
In addition to the repayment of delinquency payments made by new property owners, the lawsuit seeks an end to the Montgomery County policy.
“The fact that Montgomery sees these unpaid rates, penalties, and charges as a ‘debt’ demonstrates that Montgomery County understands that it is doing nothing more than trying to collect a debt from someone who does not owe the debt, using its monopoly on access to water and sewer,” the lawsuit states.
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