HOUSTON — City leaders are warning residents not to pay a bill after KHOU 11 News reported on collection letters being mailed to some Houston water customers. Houston City Council Member Joaquin Martinez said he has been contacted by residents in District I about the letters.
“It’s always a red flag when you have letters coming in asking for money, it was something that was important to me and my team to look into immediately," Martinez said.
RELATED: Houston woman calls KHOU 11 for help after receiving $1 million collection bill in the mail
Maria Garcia, the homeowner who called for help, lives in Martinez's district.
“When I saw the money, I just freaked out," she told KHOU 11 News when we interviewed her last month.
She’s one of the Houston Public Works customers who got a letter in the mail. Garcia got three invoices for more than $1 million for water line repairs. The bills were from a company called St. Harlem Construction. The city hired them to do work last year, but they were never paid.
“I’m thankful we are going through a transition right now," Martinez said. "The administration, the mayor specifically, is taking a leadership role to make sure these types of issues don’t happen again."
The city stopped payments not just to St. Harlem, but all emergency contractors after the Office of Inspector General launched an investigation into how those contracts were handed out. While those contractors wait to be paid, Houston homeowners are getting confusing bills.
“They can call the OIG (Office of Inspector General) office or if it’s in District I, they can call our office at 832-393-3011," Martinez said. "We want to make sure we keep track of these letters that are coming in."
Martinez said roughly 600 letters went out to people who live in neighborhoods where the emergency work was done on water lines last year.
KHOU 11 was previously provided this statement by the City of Houston:
“The City was made aware of homeowners being threatened with the placement of liens on their property by contractors who were engaged by the City to repair water line breaks on public property. These liens are unlawful and the City urges affected homeowners not to pay them. The City will vigorously contest any attempt by a company to place a lien arising from City-authorized repair work and will seek court intervention, if necessary, to have these illegal liens removed. Homeowners should contact the City’s Inspector General at 832-393-6509 or complete the OIG Complaint Online form at https://www.houstontx.gov/legal/oig.html,” said City Attorney Arturo Michel.
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