Previous subscriber’s water debt: not yours, and they cannot deny you service

It is a law of three substantive articles correcting a collection practice. Its statement of motives says where the diagnosis came from: **the Office of the Citizen’s Ombudsman revealed it receives citizen claims of this kind** regarding PRASA, and it describes the complaint: the Authority refuses to provide service when there is an unpaid water-consumption balance from a subscriber who previously held a contract with the Agency for the same property. The law states the principle ordering everything else: the debt follows the person, not the property.

A **new subscriber** requesting water service for a property where a previous subscriber left an outstanding balance. The protection does not apply — and the law says so expressly in Article 3 — if the new applicant is part of the same family unit as the previous subscriber, or if they in some other way benefited from the previous service at the property. The law does not define "family unit" or detail what counts as having benefited; we do not fill that gap.

• Requesting water service as a new subscriber for a property where another subscriber left an outstanding balance. The prohibition falls on PRASA and applies by law; there is no prior procedure to activate it.Verified against the official source
• Not being part of the same family unit as the previous subscriber and not having otherwise benefited from the previous service at the property. Article 3 expressly excepts those two cases.Verified against the official source

• Whatever proves you are a new subscriber, distinct from the previous one at that property. The law lists no documents or forms: it only authorizes PRASA, in Article 4, to adopt the regulatory measures necessary and convenient to fulfill its purposes.

1. 1

   Step 1: The debt follows the person, not the house

   Article 1 says two things in a sentence and a half. The first: **the Aqueduct and Sewer Authority may not charge a new subscriber a previous subscriber’s outstanding water service balance for the same property**. The second explains why, and is the one to cite: **any outstanding balance shall be a personal obligation of the previous customer and the Aqueduct and Sewer Authority may use such means as correspond in law to collect any unpaid supply debt**. That is, the law does not erase the debt: it leaves it where it was, with whoever incurred it, and confirms to PRASA that it may pursue it by legal means. What it may not do is transfer it to you for now living at that address.

2. 2

   Step 2: Nor can they deny you service

   Article 2 covers the other half of the problem, because not charging while still denying service would leave the subscriber equally trapped: **the Aqueduct and Sewer Authority may not deny a new subscriber water service on the ground that a previous subscriber left an outstanding balance, nor until it is paid, for water service at the same property for which service is now requested**. The words "nor until it is paid" close the door on conditioning activation upon payment of someone else’s debt.

3. 3

   Step 3: The exception that decides real cases

   Article 3 is short and is the one to read before claiming: **this act does not prevent the Aqueduct and Sewer Authority from charging and denying service to a new applicant who is part of the same family unit as the previous subscriber or who in some other way benefited from the previous service at the property**. These are two distinct scenarios. The first looks at the family tie; the second is broader and looks at benefit: someone who lived in the house and used the water under the previous account. **The law does not define "family unit" or specify what counts as having benefited**, and we do not invent it. If your case falls under either scenario, the Article 1 and 2 protection does not cover you.

4. 4

   Step 4: What this law does not carry

   It is worth marking the boundary. Article 4 merely authorizes PRASA to **adopt all regulatory measures necessary and convenient to fulfill this act’s purposes**, and Article 5 says it takes effect immediately upon approval. That means Act 14-2014 **creates no fines, sets no response deadlines, establishes no complaint procedure of its own and publishes no forms or deposit requirements**. That is why this guide’s cost and processing time stay unverified: not that PRASA has no service-activation rules, but that this law does not contain them and we will not attribute figures to it that it does not carry.

Before the Aqueduct and Sewer Authority, when requesting service in your name. Act 14-2014 creates no complaint forum of its own and designates no other agency: it imposes the prohibition directly on PRASA and authorizes it to regulate. What we do not publish: the application form, the deposit, the commercial office’s address or phone, the activation timeframe or a claim procedure, because the law does not set them. That is why cost and processing time stay unverified.

• Paying the previous subscriber’s debt to get your water activated: the law declares it a personal obligation of the previous customer.
• Accepting a denial of service until someone settles that balance: Article 2 expressly prohibits it.
• Claiming without reading Article 3: if you are part of the same family unit as the previous subscriber, the law allows the charge and the denial.
• Forgetting the exception’s second scenario: it also covers anyone who otherwise benefited from the previous service at the property.
• Expecting a fine against PRASA for non-compliance: Act 14-2014 creates none.
• Looking in this law for the deposit, form or activation timeframe: it contains none, it only authorizes PRASA to regulate.
• Applying this law to electric service: it addresses water service only.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Autoridad de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AAA)

  AAA

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov

• Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA)

  AAA

  www.acueductos.pr.gov