Utility company gave a surprise bill.

[john70t]

Got a call yesterday evening from a tenant saying her power was out.
Immediately went over to check.
Sure enough there was no power to that apartment.
Another tenant had been using power tools outside. Initially I was thinking that he had used a basement outlet on her circuit and a breaker had tripped somewhere. Nope.
Resetting the sub-panel breakers did nothing and I was suspecting the push-style main disconnect needed to be replaced.

I got her some flashlights and ran an extension for the refrigerator.
There would be no stove, but at least everything else would be temporarily functional in the meantime.

I then called an after-hours electrician ($50-150 surcharge plus visit probably to change a $5 breaker) and was about to schedule the visit when I had the brilliant thought to call the tenant back:
Me: "Did [the utility company] confirm your personal apartment account is ok? Sometimes they mess things up."
Her: "What account? I thought you were paying it."

So for the last two years she had been getting 'free electricity'.

[the utility company] now wants those two years of back billing to turn her power back on.
They first called it 'theft' and then 'unbilled usage'.
It always falls back on the property owner...

I also recently discovered another problem: A hidden separate electric meter for the garage.
I have not received a bill for about eight years.

[john70t]

What happens when they screw up billing?
I don't want to pay an unknown amount which could be anything.

[on2wheels52]

There were no shut-off notices sent?

[john70t]

None. Zero warnings sent.
They just left the account on, despite the previous tenant cancelling two years before.

That was about the time they switched over to the mandatory wireless meters...which can be remotely shut off.

[fastfredracing]

Ugh, landlord life . Currently , paying off a $4k water bill is eating up all our profits. We have a few months left .
Here, only the water bill stays with the property owner. The rest of the utilities follow the tenant .

[Sooner or later]

Who was getting the monthly bill?

[fintstone]

Those pesky rental house profits. I dont plan to make any until after I retire.

[fintstone]

Originally Posted by john70t

Got a call yesterday evening from a tenant saying her power was out.
Immediately went over to check.
Sure enough there was no power to that apartment.
Another tenant had been using power tools outside. Initially I was thinking that he had used a basement outlet on her circuit and a breaker had tripped somewhere. Nope.
Resetting the sub-panel breakers did nothing and I was suspecting the push-style main disconnect needed to be replaced.

I got her some flashlights and ran an extension for the refrigerator.
There would be no stove, but at least everything else would be temporarily functional in the meantime.

I then called an after-hours electrician ($50-150 surcharge plus visit probably to change a $5 breaker) and was about to schedule the visit when I had the brilliant thought to call the tenant back:
Me: "Did [the utility company] confirm your personal apartment account is ok? Sometimes they mess things up."
Her: "What account? I thought you were paying it."

So for the last two years she had been getting 'free electricity'.

[the utility company] now wants those two years of back billing to turn her power back on.
They first called it 'theft' and then 'unbilled usage'.
It always falls back on the property owner...

I also recently discovered another problem: A hidden separate electric meter for the garage.
I have not received a bill for about eight years.

IMHO, who pays utilities should be in the lease.

[john70t]

(you guys are also independent tax collectors for the city?)

[fastfredracing]

We try to make sure the utilities are already switched over to the tenants name before move in day. Been burned.

[john70t]

Yeah it's listed in the lease and everything was explained when she signed up and moved in.
She knew what was happening, I suspect.

But of course the first thing she said was "you never told me". A first in fifteen years.

[KFC911]

Ya wanna screw up a perfectly good retirement...rental houses .

I never wanted to be a LL at all...like Neuman....I wanted to be a banker....or not .

[mepstein]

Originally Posted by john70t

Yeah it's listed in the lease and everything was explained when she signed up and moved in.
She knew what was happening, I suspect.

But of course the first thing she said was "you never told me". A first in fifteen years.

After working 15 years in real estate, I've told my kids many times, "You sign it, you own it. Reading it and understanding it are optional but the rule still applies.

[GH85Carrera]

There was a recent case in the news of a water meter that was hidden under the grass. It supplied water to a house and they had been there for 20+ years and never wondered about why no water bill. Finally the city was doing some water main work and found the pipe, and traced it to the location and dug up the meter. Evidently the records showed it was shut off long ago but "somehow" the meter was covered up and turned on. The home owners got a nice water bill of over 10 grand for 20 years of water, sewer service and trash pickup. Of course the house was a 25 grand house and had no money but lots of crying.

They kept saying they though the water was free. Yea right.

I don't remember the final outcome, I think they are on a LONG term repayment plan.

[jhynesrockmtn]

Our utility has my 6 unit building set up with me as the owner. Bill will revert to me when a tenant shuts it off which I can monitor and they send notices. I also pay a "house" account for the common areas which helps to monitor that nothing else is going on there. I can log in and see who is getting billed.

[wildthing]

It's in the lease... You have an out. She has to pay.