Apartment & Electric

[mobbdeep]

Hello,

I currently reside in Arizona and have some questions regarding my apartment and electric. Unfortunately, around the end of May, my girlfriend and I fell into financial hardships where we could no longer afford to stay at the apartment in which we ended up moving to my parents' house to get ourselves back on our feet. During that same time, we had ended up with an outstanding balance from our electric company and notices that they're going to shut our electric off which we obviously didn't want happening. So we went to the front office and spoke with the property manager and let her know of our financial situation and what we could do in terms of electric since we need to vacate our apartment but still finish up our lease term (which we just paid our final rent payment on June 1st). We brought up the option to shut our electric off since the company was already going to do that and then have it go in the apartments name while we were no longer living there and take our time to pay off our outstanding balance with the electric company. The property manager said we can do that but would have a $35 start up fee for it to be turned back on in their name which was fine with us. Some time in the first week of June (not sure exactly which date), we disconnected our electric with the company and had it moved back into the apartments name as advised by the property manager. Come today, I received an email from the property manager letting us know that she told us we'd be charged $35 for the start up fee (which is true) but not pay the electric for our home (which was never mentioned during our meeting). That being said, she said we owe $145.75 for 06/14-07/14 and $87.10 from the beginning of this month. Now, keep in mind, I disconnected my electric way before those dates. First and foremost, we have been 100% vacant from our apartment and gave plenty of notice along with still paying our rent on time as normal, which she said would be fine. We never went there and ran water, ran laundry, cooked, etc.; you name it. Before we vacated, we left the A/C on 85 because we had a gut feeling they'd try charging us for electric when we were never there, which they did. Why on God's green earth is our bill $200+ when nobody has lived there or even been there for almost a month and a half now?

To get to my question, is there anything we can do to avoid paying these fees? What I don't understand is why would we shut our electric off to avoid further build up charges just to have our apartment complex bill us for it anyway? So what? I'm giving them a free $35 just for it to be in their name and them still be me anyway? No, I would not have voluntarily shut my electric off had the property manager said it was fine that we turned it off and put it in their name and just have a $35 start up fee. Please also keep in mind this is not the first time the property manager has said things like this but then realizes she's in the wrong then wants to come after us. Also, we did not break anything with our lease, we simply finished paying the rest of our lease term to avoid any trouble in the future of renting.

Thank you for taking the time to read.

 

[FarmerJ]

Will any of your former neighbors tell you exactly when new tenants moved in ?

 

[HRZ]

does not add up as logical unless there is something written in lease you forgot or these are somehow the charges you incurred for electric PRIOR to the service being shot off in your name and put in LLs name

THere might be language where you are accountable for all power until such time as next tenant signs up ...illogical as that might seem. REad your lease again ...odds are oral comments of manager do NOT count ..

DId you return keys or otherwise surrender the unit to management at that time of moving out and shutting off power in your name .

I too am curious as to just when new tenant moved in...and date they signed for service ....I've heard of some long long gaps ( once worked for a major power firm) but I'm not in AZ

 

[mobbdeep]

Will any of your former neighbors tell you exactly when new tenants moved in ?

No tenants moved in. We were told that if we surrendered the apartment to management, we're breaking our lease. We decided since we only had 1 more full month of our lease left that we'd just pay it instead of paying almost $3,000 in lease-breaking fees.

does not add up as logical unless there is something written in lease you forgot or these are somehow the charges you incurred for electric PRIOR to the service being shot off in your name and put in LLs name

THere might be language where you are accountable for all power until such time as next tenant signs up ...illogical as that might seem. REad your lease again ...odds are oral comments of manager do NOT count ..

DId you return keys or otherwise surrender the unit to management at that time of moving out and shutting off power in your name .

I too am curious as to just when new tenant moved in...and date they signed for service ....I've heard of some long long gaps ( once worked for a major power firm) but I'm not in AZ

We already received a final bill from the electric company along with our $200 deposit we had to pay that was returned towards our outstanding balance. The charges the apartment they are being billed for with the electric being in their name is dated a week on forward after we left the apartment. They stated that if we're not letting new tenants move in that we can finish our lease agreement as normal and the only fee we'd have associated is the $35 start up fee which is for the electric company turning it on in their name. Again, our billing stopped a week before the dates the apartment complex is attempting to bill us for. In the email she sent me regarding these charges was her original statement about only paying the $35 and nothing regarding any other additional charges or whatever they're trying to pull. Nobody in their right mind would voluntarily shut off their electric just for their apartment complex to bill them instead of the electric company. I would have just stayed at the apartment and hoped the electric company didn't shut my electric off. We even had our address changed a week before they're billing us for the electric they got billed for. Yes, I am worried that will be the case that they will say "as long as you have a 12 month lease with us, you must have electric service in your name and solely responsible for it."

The email is as stated below.

Hi,

I am reaching out about the whole electric situation- I was aware your power was going to be shut off because you had an outstanding balance- I stated if it goes into our name you will have the startup fee, I never stated we would pay the electric bill for your home. On your account as of today is $232.85. this balance includes an electric bill of $145.75 6/14-7/14 and an $87.10 balance from beginning of this month. Will this balance be paid or a payment made before move out day 7/31?

Again, we were advised of the $35 start up fee and no additional charges and the best option for my girlfriend and I directly from the property manager was to turn it off and put it in their name then contact the electric company to work out our outstanding balance we incurred with them which isn't included in what the apartment complex is charging us. At this point, it's not the electric company charging us, it's the apartment complex adding these charges to our account.

 

[JHudson]

I'd start with calling the electric company and finding out just what you owe and pay them directly. Typically your lease will state who is responsible for utilities during the lease term. Just because you paid your last months rent but weren't physically living in the unit doesn't mean that the LL is going to pay for it if your lease states that the tenant is responsible for utilities.

Being set at 85 degrees, the AC will still run up the bill these past months in Arizona even if the unit is empty.

 

[mobbdeep]

I'd start with calling the electric company and finding out just what you owe and pay them directly. Typically your lease will state who is responsible for utilities during the lease term. Just because you paid your last months rent but weren't physically living in the unit doesn't mean that the LL is going to pay for it if your lease states that the tenant is responsible for utilities.

Being set at 85 degrees, the AC will still run up the bill these past months in Arizona even if the unit is empty.

So if the electric company states I owe what's on the final bill they sent me with my deposit returned and all, I'm still going to have to pay the LL what they were billed directly in their name I'm guessing?

 

[HRZ]

WHere in the lease does it clearly say you are accountable for power in LLs name ...quote it exactly.

And does lease say noting counts unlesss its in writing or word to that effect ? many well drafted leases limit the deal to written docuements ..does yours

IF the written docuements crafted by LL or his agent create an ambiguity, odds are LL gets to eat that one if he takes it to court.

IN some northern areas the lease may specofy power/heat must remain on to prevent pipe freezing but I doubt that is an issue here.

 

[JHudson]

So if the electric company states I owe what's on the final bill they sent me with my deposit returned and all, I'm still going to have to pay the LL what they were billed directly in their name I'm guessing?

What does your lease say about utilities? Does it say in your lease that the tenant, you, are responsible for the utilities? If you had a lease and it states you were responsible for the utilities, then yeah, pay up.

 

[FarmerJ]

I cant help but wonder here, see if it was me id ask the electric utility if they can tell me if they had roll over agreement in place so when someone moves out the bill automatically goes to the LLs name so there is no acct start fee (btw did that electric utility tell you they charge 35.00 for a account billing change /new acct fee ?) Personally next time around leave freezer and fridge doors open and unplug it and just have the power shut off if you have zero risk of pipes freezing up.