Tenant did not pay utilities. Deposit does not cover the utilities.

[tstall]

I had a tenant who left without paying the last month's rent and 3 month's utilities. The deposit does not cover the utilities. She did not leave a forwarding address and her cell phone is disconected. I am unable to locate her or get in contact with her. The utilities department has sent me the utilities bill and said I must pay. Is it my responsibility to pay the utilities bill even though it was in the tenant's name?

In some areas, the property owner is responsible for some utility bills. Here, we are responsible for water bills. You need to check with the individual utility company. If you are responsible, you have to pay or get a lien placed on the property. Then keep attempting to locate the old tenant so you can sue her for the extra money she owes. Try locating her by phone numbers on the application, try zabasearch dot com, or run another credit check later.

My husband had to sign something with the gas company stating that he is not responsible for tenants not paying and that he is not responsible if they move out ,, call the utility companies and see if they have something like that ,,, he then faxed it to them and since then we have not had any trouble

Some utilities will not allow you to opt out of this obligation. Some force the property owner to be the guarantor of the tenant. If the tenant does not pay, the company pursues the property owner for the money. If the owner does not pay, the company places a lien on the property. Usually these are municipal utility comapnies like water comapnies, but some areas do this with combined utility bills. Here, LLs have gotten stuck with $600-700 bills because of this. You need to contact the utility comapny and inquire about their policy. See if opting out is an option for you. If not, pay the bill, track down the tenant, and sue him. Also, make sure the utility marks the payment as being from you and not the tenant. He shouldn't be able to get service at any other place until he pays the utility company (and they refund your money).

hello i have a situation were the owner of the house or property manager willl not look into my situation with the utilities property manager said the bills had to be in the upstairs name cause owner would not want to deal with it the lease had said upstairs which is us pays 60% downstairs 40% i moved in July 1 2009 and the tennant down stairs had not paid a cent we provided photo copy's and still no money as well i have 2 children and the tennants downstairs keep pounding cause my son walks around the hallway and i cannot watch tv

Please help

Let me see if I understand you correctly. This property is a duplex. You live upstairs and the utilities are in your name. The LL also rented the downstairs unit and the utilities for that unit come from your meter?

You did not rent to these downstairs tenants did you? The LL did? And yet you have to pay for their utilities? If this is correct, send a certified notice to the LL that this is unacceptable. Shared utilities must be paid by the LL and he can charge you according to your use. He cannot make you responsible for someone else's utilities and expect you to pursue them for payment of those.) Tell him you refuse to pay for someone else's utilities. Ask that he put the utilities back in his name and either include them with rent or that he collect the portion from the other tenant. Mail this certified, return receipt requested, and keep a copy. If he refuses, turn off the breakers to anyone else's unit. You are not the LL and are not responsible for anyone's utility usage but your own. If he still refuses, call the Public Utilities Commission or other utility oversight board. You may also want to get the local electric company to write a statement that your meter covers both units.