Transfering utilities question?

KittyRN2

I know this is a stupid question, but do utilitie bills get transfered over after or before closing? What about the balance on the account...is the seller typically responsible for those costs?

MNVegas

Call the utility companies and ask them to transfer service into your name as of closing date. They will do a final reading for sellers and bill them accordingly. 

flip_flops

We were told to call and have them transfer into our names effective the date of closing.  When I called the city to transfer water/sewer they needed the name and phone number of our realtor to verify we are buying the house, so have that handy just in case.

lmdbww

For the water and sewer at our new house, I was told that the account was set up when the title company contacts them and gives them the new information. (Although she said we can call a few days ahead of closing and get basic account info set up, but they do verify it through the title company).

The rest of the utilities we just call ourselves and close them or set up service transfers.

Temp38995750004016

I just called and had them transferred to our name.  For electricity and alarm system, I wanted to use a different provider, so I only called my current companies to get something set up at our new address.  I did tell the seller that she needed to cancel her accounts.  She apparently didn't cancel the monitoring service...we still get bills here in her name sometimes.