Previous landlord harrassing about 'unpaid' utilities

10 days from today, July 21st, 2008, it will officially have been a year since my roommates and I moved from our 'rented' house. The landlord was a family friend of one of the roommates, and agreed to rent the house to us basically in an arrangement for us to pay the mortgage payment on THEIR house.

Now, we never had a written agreement, due to the relationship between the two of them, and the only topics touched on in the 'oral' agreement was the cost of the rent, and our agreeing to take care of yard work, and any damages that may occur in the house - flooring, windows, plumbing issues, etc.

In the length of time that we lived there, March - July, we received only two electric bills, and no water bills. Due to neither topic being brought up in pre-rental meetings, and the fact that the owner's son was living in a renovated 'barn' in the backyard, we negligently assumed no responsibility. We paid our rent in full on the first of every month, and not once did the LL make mention of missed payments on either electric or water.

In January, the LL called the friend roommate, and informed him that we owed him $1000 in unpaid water and electric bills. The friend, being the 'moral right' kind of guy, agreed to pay his $250 share, and passed the message along to the rest of us. The LL did not make contact with the other 3 of us, and nothing was ever said of it again, until July 4th weekend.

The LL called us, and misleadingly stated that we still owed him the full $1000, even though one share of it had already been paid, and said that the issue should be resolved ASAP. He then placed another call on July 14th, misleading us yet again by saying that he hadn't received anything, nor heard anything in response, and that if it came to it, he would file papers which would adversely affect our credit.

I wrote him a respectful letter addressing the lack of communication issues, and asking him for copies of the unpaid bills to determine the exact value, and he responded by harassing the friend roommate, and saying that if he didn't receive his money in two weeks, he'd be contacting the renter's history bureau. Knowing that this roommate would oblige him in any way possible so as not to burn bridges, I believe he is attempting to pit us against each other, and using scare tactics to get us to pay him for things we do not owe.

I'm fairly steadfast in my belief that I am not in the wrong, but please, feel free to tell me otherwise if that is the case. Also, if anyone has any advice on what I can relay to him to explain why he is not owed a dime for bills that were never addressed, nor received.

You should have gotten a written rental agreement. This would have spelled out your responsibilities. You now need to address this issue with the LL. Are you sure no mention was made of you paying utilties when you moved in? Was it mentioned to any of the other tenants? Ask! The 4 of you may not have communicated well with each other and someone may have known about this.

The LL does not need to address each of the 4 tenants individually. By living together and paying your rent together, you are all one entity. You are each liable for the rental obligations (whatever they may be). Communicating with one tenant is legal. The LL does not have to communicate with each one individually.

You state that: "In the length of time that we lived there, March - July, we received only two electric bills, and no water bills." So you acknowledge being responsible for the electric bills. Don't you think it strange that you only received 2 bills in 5 months? Where are the other 3 that you owe for? Or were these billed every 2 months (in which case you still owe for 1 month of the final bill)? You need to pay for the electric bils since you have acknowledged receiving and paying for those in the tenancy. You have established your obligation for those. He has asked for payment for the electric bill and it is your responsibility to pay that.

You have never received or paid for the water bills nor was any mention made of the obligation for this. I would not pay for the water then.

Resend another polite letter asking for copies of the electric bills so you may pay them. Do not bring up the subject of communication since he did communicate with one of the roommates (his only responsibility). Let him know that you will immediately pay your electric bill obligation upon receiving copies of these. Send it by certified mail, return receipt requested, and keep a copy.