Changing the name on a water bill in the U.S. typically involves making a phone call to share your name, property address, phone number, and perhaps the existing account number for service. Some cities let you set up your service online. Here in Mexico, changing the name on a water bill requires Herculean effort.
Last month, I happened to notice that our water bill still bore the name of the previous homeowner, even though three years had passed since we bought the property. Where does the time go?
I figured it was time to remedy the situation. So I began researching what was needed, knowing it would not be a straightforward process in Mexico.
Googling “How do I change the name on my water bill in Mexico?” was not particularly helpful. It turns out the requirements shown on the AI Overview didn’t match what my local bureaucrat wanted, which I’ll get into in a moment.
I know from experience it’s a good idea to read Google reviews for the local office you plan to visit, since so many procedures get “customized” by the bureaucrats that work there. After reading a few reviews about my local SIAPA office (as the public water authority is known in Guadalajara), I was feeling somewhat hopeful.
Next, I set about locating all of the necessary documents. That took a few hours of digging in files and drawers around the house—but I eventually found them all.
Visiting SIAPA in Jalisco
First off, it’s impossible to change the name on your water bill online, by phone, or via a mobile app. It must be done in person at a SIAPA office during their business hours, typically 8 am to 4 pm, Monday to Friday.
Being paranoid, I overprepared. I brought way more than the local reviewer said was needed.
Here’s a list of the documents I had with me:
- My two most recent SIAPA bills.
- The original and a copy of the receipt for my last SIAPA payment.
- A copy of the deed to my house showing me as a co-owner.
- The original and a copy of my last property tax payment.
- A copy of my Constancia de Fiscal showing my RFC (Mexican tax ID) number.
- My original passport and a copy of the identity page.
- A copy of my marriage certificate, just in case.
It turns out that this massive stack was not enough to change the name. They denied my request.
Are you kidding me?
The guy working the info desk told me the deed to my house (the deed to my house!) was unacceptable because it was more than two years old.
Um, that’s when we bought the house, I said.
Didn’t matter, he responded.
Next, he told me the receipt for my 2025 property tax payment (known as a predial) was unacceptable because only my husband’s name was displayed.
Side note: If you need advice on how to pay your first predial, I wrote about it here.
I shared that we’re 50:50 owners and that I was the one who paid the tax bill. I said I had no say in whose name they displayed on the receipt.
Didn’t matter, he said. Without my name on the receipt, it was insufficient proof.
Next, I shared a copy of my marriage certificate, which showed that I was, in fact, related to the person whose name was on the tax receipt. He didn’t budge.
I wondered to myself… Who on Earth would have all of these original documents if they weren’t the actual property owner?
But that sort of logic will get you into trouble in Mexico — because it misses the point.
Why Mexico’s Bureaucracy Is the Way It Is
The word that continually comes to my mind after interacting with Mexican bureaucracy is Kafkaesque.
The term refers to anything “reminiscent of [writer] Franz Kafka’s fictional world, especially with reference to oppressively complex and seemingly illogical bureaucracy.”
It’s the reason there’s a cottage industry of “fixers” in Mexico helping people with better things to do take care of tramites (bureaucratic procedures). After spending a little time here, you learn that simply having everything to satisfy the requirements to get something done is never going to be enough to actually get it done.
If you want to have a good laugh, try asking AI this question:
“What is the point of Mexico’s insanely complex bureaucracy?”
Google spit out a lengthy response:
Mexico’s complex bureaucracy is not a purposeful design for complexity itself, but rather a result of historical legacies, political dynamics, and deeply entrenched corruption that creates a “low-trust” system.
(their emphasis on “low-trust system,” by the way)
In other words, the difficulty and opacity of bureaucratic procedures in Mexico are a feature, not a bug. It’s the reason these tramites can be so exhausting.
Documents must be precisely the right vintage, displaying the right combination of details, or no dice.
There’s almost always some “catch” that prevents you from easily succeeding, with a lubricant of some kind needed (bribes or some other special sauce known only to fixers) to make it work.
For those like me who decide to go it alone, one visit to INM, SAT, SIAPA, or some other agency is never going to be enough. (The strange exception to this rule I’ve found is getting a Mexican driver’s license.) But with persistence, you’ll most likely get the thing done, eventually.
What’s Required to Change the Name on a Water Bill in Jalisco
This translates to:
REQUIREMENTS FOR NAME CHANGE OR REGISTRATION:
• CURRENT WATER BILL.
• DEED NO OLDER THAN 2 YEARS OLD, WITH REGISTRATION CERTIFICATE, OR
• UPDATED PROPERTY TAX BILL, WHICH MUST MATCH THE ADDRESS AND AREA INFORMATION ON THE WATER BILL.
• VALID OFFICIAL IDENTIFICATION OF THE OWNER (INE/IFE).
• ORIGINAL AND COPY OF THE ABOVE DOCUMENTS.
IF IT IS EJIDO LAND:
• CURRENT WATER BILL.
• UPDATED ASSIGNMENT OF RIGHTS NO OLDER THAN 2 YEARS OLD, INCLUDING THE PROPERTY ADDRESS, NEIGHBORHOOD, AND AREA.
• CURRENT PROPERTY TAX BILL, WHICH MUST INCLUDE THE PROPERTY ADDRESS, NEIGHBORHOOD, AND AREA. + OWNER’S INE/IFE
• ORIGINAL AND COPY OF THE ABOVE DOCUMENTS.
IF THE OWNER CANNOT ATTEND, THEY MUST PRESENT A POWER OF ATTORNEY WITH THEIR IDENTIFICATION (INE/IFE).
Despite having all of the required things on the list for a name change (there’s no mention that the property tax receipt name must match the applicant’s name), I was denied.
And please don’t think that if you live in another Mexican state that these requirements will be the same. They most certainly will not.
If there’s a bright side to my story, it’s that I learned of the fatal flaw in my documentation two months before paying my next predial, instead of two months after.
So in 2026, you can bet I will try again.
That assumes I succeed in getting the city of Zapopan to display my name on the 2026 predial receipt instead of my husband’s. Otherwise, this seemingly simple thing will remain a Sisyphean task.