The seller disconnects Power day before closing..now what!

I just had a closing where in the seller canceled the utilities for the July 8^th contract date.  A week prior, all parties learned the closing was scheduled for the 9^th. The seller never canceled the shut off order – their Realtor never reminded them to do so either…we almost didn’t close; we couldn’t perform a proper walk thru with no power. My clients would not close in escrow and there may have been banks fees involved or other delays if we didn't close on time. 

I had asked my clients (in email) 2 weeks prior to be sure to change utilities in their name.  On July 8^th morning, I sent another email confirming they had done so already and learned they had not – they had forgotten.  So, they called CL&P and learned power was shut off on that day!  We asked for a rush to get it back on.  CL&P wanted the main breaker off that evening in order to energize home the next day. We had seller go to his home to shut off the main breaker. 

CL&P could not tell my clients when the home would be energized.  We were all in a stand still trying to figure out what to do.  We had asked the seller to confirm power was on but they had no way of knowing when CL&P would even show.  After 2 calls by my clients into CL&P with no luck verifying power was on – I called.  I explained who I was and why we needed the info fast.  The lady I spoke to understood and reached out to a field supervisor – she was able to confirm the power would be on between 8-12…well, it was 11:45 at that point so I called the other Realtor and we asked seller who had already moved out to go back to the house and confirm the power was on and verify or reset all mechanicals.  It was not our responsibility to do so!  We didn’t want liability. He was there at 12:15, verified power on, we were there for our walk thru at 12:30 AND we made it to closing just 15 minutes later than scheduled time!

Just a reminder how important this simply reminder can be come closing day! Be sure to communicate with your clients the importance of making sure the home is energized the day of closing and as Buyers and Sellers, be sure to verify utilities are on the day you close.