Landlord threw rent on us against contract

[Search4Lancer]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Pennsylvania

Hello,

I've been in my apartment for a little over a year now, moving out this weekend. When I moved in, the landlord at that time paid for the heat (oil furnace) for the whole building. Sometime over the summer, the building was sold, and the new landlord decided that he didn't want to pay for the oil this winter, leaving us to rely on baseboard heat.

The lease specifically states:

"Lesee shall be responsible for the payment of all utilities and services, except water, sewer, heat and trash, which shall be paid by Lessor."

What is my best course of action here? Asking him if I could deduct my heating expenses from the remainder of the rent that I owe him would be, well, laughable, as he and I are on pretty bad terms. Should I outline the estimated expenses of heat in a letter to him, with said expenses deducted from the remainder of rent owed, and see where that goes? I figure if I do that, and he sues me, I can successfully defend myself sans court costs.

[mistoffolees]

Originally Posted by Search4Lancer

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Pennsylvania

Hello,

I've been in my apartment for a little over a year now, moving out this weekend. When I moved in, the landlord at that time paid for the heat (oil furnace) for the whole building. Sometime over the summer, the building was sold, and the new landlord decided that he didn't want to pay for the oil this winter, leaving us to rely on baseboard heat.

The lease specifically states:

"Lesee shall be responsible for the payment of all utilities and services, except water, sewer, heat and trash, which shall be paid by Lessor."

What is my best course of action here? Asking him if I could deduct my heating expenses from the remainder of the rent that I owe him would be, well, laughable, as he and I are on pretty bad terms. Should I outline the estimated expenses of heat in a letter to him, with said expenses deducted from the remainder of rent owed, and see where that goes? I figure if I do that, and he sues me, I can successfully defend myself sans court costs.

Please clarify: is the least you cited from the old landlord or did the new one give you a new lease? Did the landlord ever notify you that the terms of the lease had been changed?

Assuming that either this is a new lease or that the new landlord accepted the old lease terms by allowing you to stay there and collecting your rent, you have two options:

1. Deduct the heating cost from the rent. If the landlord sues you, you would use the lease as a defense. You'll need to convince the judge that it's a valid lease, but if the new landlord continued to accept the old one, it should be OK.

2. Pay the full rent and pay for the heat and then go to small claims court to recover your cost of heating. Legally, this is the stronger position since if you choose option 1, you are violating the lease (arguing that he violated it first isn't really a defense).

Watch out, however, for one ambiguity. SOME of the electric bill is paying for the baseboard heat - so the landlord should be paying that portion. And if you have gas heat and gas hot water, some of the gas bill is paying for hot water - which is not the landlord's responsibility.

Many attorneys will give you a quick consultation free. You might want to have a chat with one to get advice from someone on the scene.

[Search4Lancer]

The new landlord accepted the old terms by allowing me to stay and collecting rent. My bills were holding pretty steady at $25-$30/mo beforehand, even during AC season, then shot up into the stratosphere, so I figured even putting in some leeway and pegging my responsibility at $40/mo to account for any other increases in power use would be reasonable.