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Fl tenant not paying electric bill in landlords name with an expired lease

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Vector1

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

Tenant is several months behind in rent and claims to be living off the last month and security deposit. Aside from eviction issues like ignoring 3 day notice to pay or vacate, the lease has expired. I understand some of the problems with trying to get them out, but there is a more immediate problem.

The electric service was left in the landlords name, and when the bills were submitted to the tenant, they paid the landlord. However they stopped paying the electric bills, and are now several months behind. They are running up $200+ per month bills. The landlord is paying them to not ruin his credit with the power company, but it is one thing to not get rent, it is another to pay for them to continue to run up bills they are not paying for.

Therefore the question is, can the electric be turned off so as to mitigate further loss?
The lease is expired, but they refuse to leave. Getting them out apparently could take months, but should they be legally allowed under FL law to run up the landlords electric bill on an expired lease and not paying anything?
[Keep in mind that there is nothing preventing the tenant from starting electric in their own name while refusing to vacate the premises]
 


Vector1

Junior Member
You CANNOT disconnect power legally.
I have read is some states it is called a soft eviction and it is not allowed.
However my understanding is that it is because the electric bill is part of the lease agreement. Or that the owner cuts off the electric to the place they own even though the tenant has the electric service in their name.
In my case we decided to keep the electric in my name, and the tenant paid the electric separate from their rent. The tenant offered several times to put it in her name, but I refused for my own reasons.
Therefore I am wondering why if we could have done it that way before, why it cannot be done it that way now?
 
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STEPHAN

Senior Member
The tenant offered several times to put it in her name, but I refused for my own reasons.
Looks like that was a mistake, whatever your "reasons" were.

You can not shut if of now, it is now part of the deal.

Stay away from self-eviction.
 

FarmerJ

Senior Member
Unless this is a city -muni owned electric utility there is no more valid reason to have the elect in your name ( city owned can add to the property taxes unpaid electric but for profit local electric utilities cannot , they can more carefully screen, they can ask for deposits , but unless its muni owned theres no reason even for the next tenant to not have the elect in tenant name. As far as this tenant , and running up the bill this is a civil matter between you and the tenant they have breached the lease with you two ways , not reimbursing you for the electric and not paying the rent , take them to court for non payment of rent and owed utility money, if you don't know how to take them to court then use the links above & find a local attorney who will represent you to evict this tenant for non payment and stop this financial bleeding you permitted.
 

Vector1

Junior Member
Thanks for the responses thus far.

The power company is FPL and my reasons were as follows. We have had this place in my family since the 70's. The electric bill account was so old, we did not have a deposit, nor even the most basic info they require today. More importantly, if we closed the account and let a tenant take over, when it would be time to put it back in our name, all the new garbage of deposits, credits checks, etc. would kick in.
So being grandfathered in with an old account seemed like a sensible thing to maintain. However it is now apparent that plan was fine unless we got a deadbeat who knows how to work the system.

She has said she would move out on two separate dates, but failed to get out either time. She probably knows she must be served a 2nd time to be able to respond, and that will eat up more time. Needless to say by the time the sheriffs office would evict her (if it comes to that), she might be in there another month or two. So I guess I am stuck with paying for this leach, who likely will not pay even if I get a judgment against her. Now I am going to have to look into how I can report her to the credit agencies, so she cannot do this to others without that red flag showing up.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Thanks for the responses thus far.

The power company is FPL and my reasons were as follows. We have had this place in my family since the 70's. The electric bill account was so old, we did not have a deposit, nor even the most basic info they require today. More importantly, if we closed the account and let a tenant take over, when it would be time to put it back in our name, all the new garbage of deposits, credits checks, etc. would kick in.
So being grandfathered in with an old account seemed like a sensible thing to maintain. However it is now apparent that plan was fine unless we got a deadbeat who knows how to work the system.
The phrase is "Penny wise and pound foolish."
 

STEPHAN

Senior Member
More importantly, if we closed the account and let a tenant take over, when it would be time to put it back in our name, all the new garbage of deposits, credits checks, etc. would kick in.
Yes, but a deposit you would have gotten back ;-)
 

Vector1

Junior Member
Yes, but a deposit you would have gotten back ;-)
Yes, but it is the principle more with me. Having an account for 30+ years and great credit history with FPL should not mean I must be subjected to their current obligatory criteria.
Furthermore, I do not like anyone, and I mean anyone, having my SS number unless they can legally demand it. Rest assured many sheep out there give it out thinking it is required. In reality only a select few can demand it, though most insist they are entitled to it. FPL is one of them, and they will never get mine.

While these discussions about my reason/s for keeping the electric in my name are fine, I'd also like to know about the other things I mentioned, such as the lease being expired, and also going after her credit by knowing how to report her as a landlord?
 

STEPHAN

Senior Member
I'd also like to know about the other things I mentioned, such as the lease being expired, and also going after her credit by knowing how to report her as a landlord?
You have to evict her. Once you have a ruling on count 1 you can go ahead. This will be on (public) court record forever. Manny LLs (like me) check this.

On the money, once you have a ruling on count 2 you can start collecting. You will probably never get a dime, but you can use a collection agency that reports.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
I'd also like to know about the other things I mentioned, such as the lease being expired...
Since we've got the electric part covered, I'll touch on this:

The lease is still in force. All that has expired is the specific term. The lease has converted to a month-to-month with all the remaining terms surviving.
 

FarmerJ

Senior Member
vector Im going to guess you did not know that many gas and elect utils let LLs have the account set up so when a tenant moves they calculate the tenants final bill then just automatically switch it to the LL with no set up fees so this way they do not have to go to the trouble of doing a total disconnect. SO even if its a older account if you ask many gas and elect utils will do it that way and in fact they can in many instances send to you application cards or forms for tenant to fill out and you can have tenant fill it out right there with your application and you can be the one to send it in . ( I used to do that with my four plex) and if you move faster its not likely to take months to get her out, evicting based on non payment is a lot faster than sending a notice to a tenant telling them to get out. it could take 2 to 3 weeks for the hearing in court but once that happens even if she does not deny she owes it in many places a extension granted by the court for a true hardship she could ask for should not go beyond 7 days and if she is still in the unit after the date the court set to be out then that's where the sheriffs dept can bodily remove her once you see to it they have a court order / writ of restitution is what its called where I live for them to carry out. No matter what if you go as far as taking her to court to make her get out it will haunt her , most all landlords now use screening services and they wont give a crap why you had to take her to court just the fact that you did would be enough for most LLs I know of to reject her as a tenant in the future. and IF by chance she comes into some money then its possible she will be forced to pay your judgment off.
 

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