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Evicting tenants and utilities shut off

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silverfae

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NH

We are in the process of evicting tenants for non-payment of rent. We have given them a demand for rent and notice to quit. All utilities are in their name, and they have had their electricity shut off for non-payment a few days ago. We don't want to get the utilities turned back on in our name because we worry that the tenant won't want to leave then and will drag their feet as long as possible. As far as I know, they aren't staying in the house because no electricity means the furnace won't run which means it's too cold, so they are staying somewhere else. My big concern is that it is supposed to get down to 20 degrees tomorrow night and there's no heat in the house - if the pipes freeze it will be a giant mess. And since our tenants have no money, we wont be able to recover the costs of fixing it. Is there anything we can do to protect our property without inviting the tenants to stay longer? It seems incredibly unfair that they can stay and ruin our property while we go through the legal process =/
 


FarmerJ

Senior Member
If the electricity is off , you have every right to step in and protect your plumbing by going in and draining the water lines and hot water tank and blowing them out with a compressor even if you have to rent a gas one from rental , If by chance your tenant complains about you going in and doing this they can complain to the court. They do not have the right to stop you from entering , to reduce possible damage since they already have permitted the elect to be shut off. In my opinion this is a emergency entry to protect your plumbing ( In court if they did bring it up it would make them look like fools since a judge could ask them ` what steps did you take to prevent freeze up damage to the home while the power was off `
 
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John_DFW

Member
I would keep a close eye on the property in case they are using portable heaters due to the lack of electricity, they can be big fire hazards.

Unless the lease or building codes prohibit them, probably not much you can do about that.
 

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