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I will be renting a house in CR and will need to have the electricity service transferring into my name.
I would like to find out what is involved to do the transfer so that I go to ICE office prepared.Thank you for your help.
A problem that will take longer then the time you’re renting the house. Without residency or an S.A. transferring the bill will be impossible. Best off leaving the bill in the current name and just paying it.
The best advice is that you should not try to transfer the service into your name. ICE doesn’t care whose name the service is in, and they’re happy if somebody (anybody) pays the monthly bill. Assuming that you have the monthly bill, all you need do is go to any bank, the Cruz Roja, or one of the many local pulpurias or other business establishments where you can pay utility bills and pay up. If you’re asked if you really are Juan Carlos Rojas (or whoever’s name appears on the bill), just nod “Si”.
If you are not a legal resident or citizen, and if you do not propose to put the electric service in the name of a Costa Rican corporation, ICE may balk at making the change.
What’s more, ICE’s procedures are (ahem) awkward. If you try to make this change, they may instead turn off the service and then admire your request to have it turned back on. Especially if you will only be renting, just get the monthly bill and pay it. If you have established a bank account at a Costa Rican bank, you can even do this via online banking.
We pay the utility bills for our neighbors who live in Minnesota. They bought their home from the Americans who built it. The electricity, telephone and water are all in the name of the original owners and there have been no problems with paying for them.
I should add that, while the Costa Rican Correo (postal service) does, in fact, deliver mail to your home, it’s more typical that an arrangement has been made to deliver the bill to someplace else. If you live near a pulpuria where bills can be paid, they may receive it. Or it may be delivered to the Cruz Roja to be paid. So you’ll need to find out where the bill goes and plan to go there to pay it. Or, if you can learn the account number, you can try paying it via online banking.
Our bills arrive at our local pulpuria on the first of every month and are due to be paid by the fifteenth. I don’t know if that’s typical countrywide or not, but life will be much better if you find out and pay your bill on time.
Edited on Aug 26, 2009 07:34
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