Massachusetts Winter Utility Shut-Off Protection

I hear this one a lot around here: they can’t shut your heat off in winter. The regulation behind it is 220 CMR 25.03, and it’s worth reading in full if you own a home you can barely carry, or if you own a rental where the heat is in the tenant’s name.

What the protection actually covers

No company may shut off or refuse to restore utility service to the home of a customer if two things are true at once. First, one of these is certified to the company: someone living in the home is seriously ill, or a child under 12 months of age is domiciled in the home, or, between Nov 15 and Mar 15, the service provides heat or operates the heating system and has not been shut off for nonpayment before Nov 15. Second, the customer is unable to pay the overdue bill, in whole or in part, because of financial hardship as defined in 220 CMR 25.01(2).

The clause that catches people out in October

Service that was already shut off for nonpayment before Nov 15 doesn’t come back under the winter clause. If an account goes off in October, Nov 15 doesn’t automatically bring it back on. Worth knowing in September, because an overdue balance is a lot easier to deal with in the fall than a restoration request in January.

How a claim gets made

A claim may initially be made by telephone, and the telephone certification stays valid until the filing periods expire. For serious illness the call has to come from a registered physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner or local board of health official. The company then forwards a financial hardship form approved by the Department, and instructs the customer that it must be filled out and returned within seven days from the date of receipt. Where illness is claimed, a certificate stating the name and address of the ill person, the nature of the illness, and the certifying professional’s business address and telephone number has to follow within seven days from the date of notice. Where infancy is claimed, written certification with the child’s name, birth date and domicile follows on the same clock, and a birth certificate satisfies it, as does a letter from a hospital, a physician, a local board of health, a government official, the Department of Transitional Assistance, or a clergyman or religious institution.

Then the company answers, and you can push back

The company has seven days from the date all certifications were due to decide whether the claims were appropriately certified. If it decides they weren’t, it has to notify the customer, and that notice has to state the customer’s right to dispute the determination by contacting the Department within seven days from the date of receipt. Certification of serious illness and infancy is conclusive evidence of the condition unless the Department determines otherwise after investigation.

Renewals

The financial hardship form is renewed quarterly. If the hardship is shown to be ongoing for the period Nov 15 to Mar 15, renewal is waived for that period. Certifications of serious illness are renewed quarterly, except that where the illness is certified as chronic, the certificate is renewed every six months. Certification of infancy stays in effect without renewal until the child reaches 12 months of age.

The fuel assistance presumption

A company that received fuel assistance payments in the prior winter season on behalf of a customer has to presume that customer meets the financial hardship guidelines, and has to protect the account from Nov 15 through Jan 1, to give the customer time to apply for fuel assistance for the current season. If no application or other certification is made by Jan 1, the company may resume normal collection activity. For all customers, the company must provide hardship forms and instructions on or before Nov 15.

Notices

All arrearage notices have to come with a prominent written notice of these protections. No notice threatening termination may be issued between Nov 15 and Mar 15 to a customer who has given the company notice of financial hardship, unless the Department authorizes it. And during that period, a company has to give heating account customers telephone or personal notice of an impending shut-off no earlier than three days before it happens. A willful violation of any of this draws a penalty of $100 for each violation, imposed after a hearing.

Why a realtor is writing about this

Two reasons. Buyers ask me what happens if a winter goes badly, and the honest answer includes this regulation and its limits. And owners of small rentals ask whether a tenant’s unpaid gas bill becomes their problem, which starts with whose name the account is in. Thinking about buying or renting out a place in Greater Boston this fall? Send me the address and I’ll walk through the utility side with you. Diana Kim, REALTOR®, eXp Realty.