I am renting a house that has been vacant for 8 years, the owner is in prison. My lease says I am responsible for all utilities.The water company has refused to turn on the water unless I pay the lien they filed on the property.I thought the owner had an outstanding bill, but when I looked it up it was filed the month I moved in. They are charging $45.00 a month for stand-by fee (not having water) plus a $25.00 late fee with accruing interest. I have never used their service, I dont owe them any money, and the owner had no outstanding bills . They send a bill every month addressed to the owner, they know that the owner is in prison and no longer lives at the property. The water company is a GID utility so it is not governed by The Public Utility Commission. I am forced to get water from them, it is a small rural section of 3 streets. They have a water board that consists of the"President", his wife, his son, his son's wife and 1 other lady. I have tried everything with these people with no success. I wrote them and asked to establish an account in my name, went to the water board meeting, personally asked if there was something we could work out in payments, even though I feel this whole situation is fraudulent and it borders on criminal extortion, he says I have to pay the entire lien which is now over $2000, this includes a $448.00 admin fee(to file a 17.00 paper) I am a disabled, senior citizen, my sole income is $708.00 a month from Soc Sec which is below poverty level. I have been living there over 1 year with no water, which has caused me extreme emotional distress and created a huge hardship for me because I have no car so I have to depend on someone else to bring it in 5 gal bottles. I cant afford to move. Can you help me to resolve this? Thank You