The previous tenant’s electric debt: they cannot charge you or deny you service

It is the law that separates the electric debt from the property and ties it to the person. Before it, an old balance hung on the address and blocked service for whoever came next; the law turns it into a personal obligation of the previous customer, which the Authority collects by legally available means. It is the electric equivalent of the rule we already cover for water, and that is why the two guides are separate: different utilities with different statutes.

Anyone applying for electric service at a property where a previous subscriber left an outstanding balance — as long as they do not fall under the law’s exception: not being within the third degree of consanguinity or second of affinity with whoever left the debt, not being an entity established by that person or by a relative within those degrees, not being part of the previous subscriber’s same family unit, and not having otherwise benefited from the earlier electric service at the property.

• Applying for energy service at a property where the outstanding balance was left by a previous subscriber.Verified against the official source
• Not falling under the exception: kinship within the third degree of consanguinity or second of affinity with the debtor, an entity established by them or by that relative, the same family unit, or having benefited from the earlier service.Verified against the official source

• Evidence that you are a new customer distinct from the previous subscriber: a lease, deed or record of the date you occupied the property.

1. 1

   Step 1: Know the debt is personal, not the address’s

   The text is clear: any outstanding balance shall be a personal obligation of the previous customer, and the Electric Power Authority may use the legally available means to collect any unsatisfied energy supply debt. That is, the collection route exists — but it points at whoever consumed the energy, not at whoever comes afterward.

2. 2

   Step 2: Invoke the right prohibition for what is being done to you

   The law carries two rules and it is worth citing the one that applies. If they are billing you someone else’s debt: the Authority may not charge a subscriber’s outstanding balance to a new customer requesting service for the same property. If what they are doing is withholding service: the Authority may not deny an applicant energy supply on the ground that a previous subscriber left an outstanding balance for the same property.

3. 3

   Step 3: Check whether you fall under the exception before claiming

   The protection is not absolute and this is the part that decides real cases. It does not apply to persons or juridical entities established by someone related within the third degree of consanguinity or second degree of affinity to the customer with the outstanding balance for the same property, nor to those established by the person with the balance themselves. And the law also does not prevent charging and denying service to a new applicant who is part of the previous subscriber’s same family unit, or who otherwise benefited from the earlier electric service at the property. Translated: if you lived there with whoever left the debt, or you are a close relative putting the service in your name, the exception likely reaches you.

4. 4

   Step 4: Document that you are a new customer

   Bring whatever shows since when you occupy the property and that you are not the previous subscriber or part of their family unit: a lease, deed, or any record of the occupancy date. It is what supports the claim when the automatic answer is that the address has a debt.

The claim is raised with whoever is billing you or withholding electric service. The law authorizes the Electric Power Authority to adopt all the regulatory measures necessary and convenient to fulfill its purposes. If the dispute is about billing and is not resolved, this site separately covers billing review and the complaint before the Energy Bureau, plus the disconnection guide.

• Paying someone else’s debt to get service: the law forbids charging it to the new customer and forbids denying service over it.
• Not checking the exception: kinship within the third degree of consanguinity or second of affinity with the debtor triggers it.
• Forgetting the family unit rule: if you were part of the previous subscriber’s, the law does not prevent charging and denying you service.
• Believing it applies to your own debt: it protects the new customer against another’s balance, not the debtor.
• Not bringing evidence of the date you occupied the property.
• Confusing it with the water law: they are two distinct rules, one per utility.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• LUMA Energy

  LUMA

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov