runaway tenants and vanished landlords

[forevergreen]

What is the name of your state? iowa

the tenant upstairs in our duplex has run away. this puts me in a bind because i've been paying for the whole house's bills. we are obligated to split the bills 50/50. he has not paid any of his bills after many times of requesting. now he has run away and the landlords claimed that there is no way to contact him. now i've been stuck with all the bills to the house and since there is no way to contact him (according to landlords) i have requested that the landlord to pay the other half, since the contract did say i was only to pay 50 percent of utilities. can i by agreement of lease get the other half from the landlords? i have sent copies of bills to landlords. here's where it gets tricky. they sold the house to some new landlords. now everytime i try to get the money from the old landlords, they will not answer their phone or any of the many of messages i have left on their machine. i have tried to get the money from the new landlords but they say they are not responsible. it has been close to 4 months now and the old landlords have not called or anything. (even to this day i leave them messages) is it time to take legal action? and if so is there any section or code of law that you can refer me to so i can know what my case is against them?

 

[forevergreen]

one more thing

i'm just a young guy. please assume i don't know much about these things when explaining because,,,, i don't!!!!

 

[FarmerJ]

You might consider filing claim in small claims court against former LL . NOW for your new landlord I did actually try a few links and didnt find what I was looking for about common metered utilitys . but did find this and they should be able to tell you if there is a statute covering this subject > Iowa Coalition for Housing and Homeless
713 E Locust St
Des Moines, IA 50309-1915
Phone: (515) 288-5022
Fax: (515) 282-1810
Email: [email protected]
See Most states require that if there is a single meter at a multi unit that the LL must pay the bill and include it in the rent since there is no way to determine who is using how much . See in 2 unit homes if there is 1 gas meter and water meter and the shower king of the north lives in half of house there is no way to figure out with out submetering or 2 sep meters which half is using how much . One 1/2 of the bill is allways going to be unfair to the other tenant . So call or drop them a line to learn if its covered by statute or search your state govt web page for landlord tenant . If you find a statute that says LL must pay bill send your new LL a letter certified that you are taking the bills out of your name and Inc copy of the statute and tell them they are going to have to pay it . Even if you lease says your to pay 1/2 if state law says LL is responsible then that part of the lease cannot be forced on you . If your lease is month to month expect that they will tell you to move .

 

[forevergreen]

ok..

this is very helpful.. thank you.. i will do my homework on the subject (it's good to know regardless the outcome, for my own knowledge)... if they do ask me to move, in that case i will probably not make a fuss until the lease is almost up.. would that be a bad move to keep waiting? i would have no place to go for now anyways...
daniel

 

[FarmerJ]

If they ask you to move remind them you have a lease and youll stay till the end of it . Your lease was transferable to them and all terms except for any that break a state law are binding . You make sure to give notice before lease is up that your not going to renew and make sure you take pics showing the unit after you clean it etc .

 

[mikkey5]

Your lease is valid unpon the new owner.

If the new owner wants you to move, make them PAY YOU to break your lease.

Also your security deposit gets transferred to the new owner.

You could call the utility company and see if you can get the utilities transferred back into the landlords name.

If not then keep all the bills and sue the former owner in small claims court.

This should be a warning for you next time, it is illegal to share meters. Or rent basement or attic or over the garage apartments, most are illegal.