This past week I heard for the first time that getting water turned on at a home has taken a twist in Gwinnett County. I can only imagine that this is due to the number of vacant foreclosure and short sale properties in Gwinnett County that have left the county with unpaid water bills. Let me describe to you what I found out this past week.

In order for a buyer in Gwinnett County to get water turned on the county wants to see a copy of the HUD-1 Settlement Statement from the closing. That would make sense for the county but with one large exception. Most buyers want to have a home inspection prior to closing on the property and having the water on constitutes a big portion of the inspection. After all wouldn’t it be nice for the buyer to know if there are plumbing leaks in a home prior to purchasing it? When I posed the inspection question to the county I was informed of an option. The listing agent needs to provide the buyer’s agent with a copy of the listing agreement signed by the seller and the listing agent. The buyer then takes this copy to the Gwinnett County Water Department and with a payment of $100.00 the water will be turned on for 2 weeks in order for the buyer to get the home inspection performed. After the 2 week period is over the water will be turned off and in order for the buyer to get it permanently put into the buyer’s name a copy of the settlement statement must be presented to the water department. I did question the water department as to whether the $100.00 fee would be credited towards the buyer’s account and was informed that it would not. This is just a fee to get the water turned on for an inspection.  A word of caution, if you want the water turned on the day of closing then you will need to have the settlement statement to the water department before 2:00PM.

Policy for getting the water account transferred into a buyer’s name when it has not been disconnected remains the same as far as I know. All the buyer needs to do is notify the Gwinnett County Water Department of the date to transfer the account and the county will be happy to accommodate.

Gwinnett County Water Department can be reached at 678-376-6800.