Calling the city

I've never understood how people are supposed to take care of business when the normal world works business hours. Someone is going to have to adjust to get things done! I, for instance, had to call the city offices at work.

I call the number listed on the city Web site's "newcomers guide." It has an odd ring and I question whether I dialed the right number. I finally get a person who asks if I can hold. Two minutes. It rings a few times, then silence. Two minutes. It rings! Silence for another 2 minutes. They must be busy at 10:45 a.m. on a Tuesday, I tell myself. Another two minute silence.

Finally! A person! She never gives me her name (I love to know the name of the people I am talking business with).

I tell Anonymous that we are buying a house in Statesville and need to get connected. She asks for the address, then if I currently have an account with the city. Nope.

Here's the lowdown. We will have to come to the city offices in person with proof of ownership and a deposit. Great, yet another reason to miss work.

The deposit
To calculate the deposit, she takes the two highest months of utility bills for that address and averages them together. She says the highest power bills topped $200 in the winter months, and the water/sewer topped out at almost $70. In order to have our utilities connected, we will either have to fork over $500.30 in a deposit (which would be applied to our bills after 12 months of on-time payments), find a co-signer who currently lives in Statesville (co-workers for us, but honestly who would ask their coworker to co-sign?) or get a letter of credit from our current utility provider (but you have to show that you paid on time for 12 months).

My next question: How soon can they connect? Anonymous says one business day after we come in. Excellent, but we want to close on a Friday and paint that weekend. The next business day would be a Monday. That's where the proof of ownership comes in. Anonymous says they accept a purchase agreement, as long as it has our name and the house address on it.

Sold!

Now I have to talk to our utility company about a letter of credit...