Comments on: Tenant is Always Liable for Utilities, Right? Think Again

By: A Must-Have Item for Your Move-In Checklist « Help for Landlords

A Must-Have Item for Your Move-In Checklist « Help for Landlords — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:48:04 +0000

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By: A Must-Have Item for Your Move-In Checklist | AAOA - American Apartment Owners Association

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:21:28 +0000

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By: Lucy Fritz

Lucy Fritz — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 19:55:13 +0000

I doubt this would stand up legally if challenged.

We’ve had tenants whose credit is so bad they use the names of others (even their children) to obtain utilities – we find this out after they move out and unpaid utility bills continue arriving.

As a landlord I would simply show the utility company my lease and prove that the name they were providing utilities to was not the name of my tenant. And if the utility company is going to do such a sloppy job verifying who they are providing service to then they can’t hold us, the landlord, liable. Plus, if the city prevents me from cutting off utilities during the winter, I can’t be held liable for non-payment when spring arrives and utilities can legally be turned off.

At the end of the day the utility companies do pass these uncollectibles off to the public in the form of higher rates.

By: Shirley

Shirley — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:14:18 +0000

This is ridiculous. Odds are if the tenant left owing a gas bill they also left owing rent. Maybe the gas company should bill the tenant for the landlord’s rent and collect it for them the next time the tenant obtains service. The utility companies already have the right to cut service for non-payment (even in the dead of winter) but landlords can’t just change the locks, we have to go through the court system which takes a minimum 4 weeks start to finish. Our local utility providers are no help at all when we call and ask them questions such as the date the tenant’s service was disconnected (even though it is in our lease that the tenant gives us permission to gather this information) but they have no problem calling us and asking us if we happen to know where a tenant who owes them money moved to.

By: Jerald A. Peterson

Jerald A. Peterson — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 20:30:26 +0000

If this is allowed the gas company should also be required to share their profits with all the landlords.

By: jean

jean — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:20:25 +0000

WHAT ARE THESE UTILITY COMPANIES THINKING AS A LANDLORD I CANNOT CONTROL USAGE OR PAYMENT AND SHOULD NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR OTHERS USAGE AS IF IT WAS A CONDO. PERHAPS THE UTILITY COMPANIES SHOULD REQUIRE
DEPOSITS TO ENSURE PAYMENT AND NOT LET THE BILLS GET MONTHS BEHIND BEFORE TAKING ACTION. TO THINK THAT THE
LANDLORD CAN COLLECT FOR A UTILITY IS RIDICULOUS.

By: Archer

Archer — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:59:49 +0000

This is only “legal” until someone formally challenges it’s questionable “legality.” I doubt it really is. Sadly, it’s only a matter of time until electric utilities try the same thing, after all, why not? I’ve known of tenants who skip in the spring after running up well over $1k in electric bills, then boogie after the PUC allowed cutoff date.

If I were affected by this, I would need to; 1. Add an accounting system that required proof of utility payment or worse yet, direct collection of the utility payment with the rent. Either would be a significant additional cost & staff, which would be passed on in additional rent, AND 2. Increase the amount of security deposit held to cover the inevitable monthly bill that I would otherwise be stuck with. Given the endless supply of $8/hr. Walmart and fast food type jobs these requirements would effectively eliminate yet another 50% of the tenant population from eligibility to rent.

By: carrie

carrie — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:25:10 +0000

I have known some pretty nasty tenants who turn on every light, and every faucet and skip out, it could be a month before the landlord knows they are gone…why should a lein be put on a property for this type of vicious behavior, then of course once a tenant skips out…you never find them again to go after them for damages, I think the utility companies should cut them off once they are only one month late and cut their loses. Leave the landlords alone, who spend enough money fixing all the damages they do.