Right To See Utility Bill?

[Vycor]

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

Quick question. In my lease with my landlord it states I'm to pay 1/3 of the utilities (we rent the upstairs of a "2 family" house, landlord lives downstairs).

I have some concerns that we're being charged more then the utilities actually are. Last month we were charged almost $200 for our share of the electricity/heat. Doesn't seem right... I can't see him paying $600/month towards heat/electricity. Where I used to live with a family member, we had the A/C on 24/7 and it was central A/C and the bill was about $400... theres no central A/C here and i think maybe we had our window A/C on maybe one day, sooo i think hes making up numbers.

Hes also claiming hes charging me "more" for my computers (i have 3 computers that are always on, plus a 4th thats on at night only)... yet he has a pool downstairs which generates $$, so why should i have to pay into his pool but he doesnt pay into my computers? I think they should balance out.

Anyway, just trying to see my legal right. If he expects me to pay 1/3 of the utilities shouldnt I be allowed a copy of the electrical bill each month?

 

[FarmerJ]

Search in your states landlord tenant statutes to learn more details of when a LL must provide a copy of util bills that they are rebilling to tenants. If you cant find any thing there try your states atty general consumer affairs desk. BTW while your searching make your next request to see the bills in writting sent via confirmed mail delivery. BTW next time around seriously no more so called bill splits look for a place that has either a LL owned submeter or one provided for by util co , honestly there is no reason this LL could not have installed a sub meter for the elect would have done the same job as util owned meter but for one difference, the LL would have had to read it and sit down and figure it out. As far as the heating system goes Im going to guess that its possible your LL has this homes heating on a year around budget plan and that its entirely possible that this home has some pretty scary heating bills with out it being on budget billing.

 

[BL]

Search in your states landlord tenant statutes to learn more details of when a LL must provide a copy of util bills that they are rebilling to tenants. If you cant find any thing there try your states atty general consumer affairs desk. BTW while your searching make your next request to see the bills in writting sent via confirmed mail delivery. BTW next time around seriously no more so called bill splits look for a place that has either a LL owned submeter or one provided for by util co , honestly there is no reason this LL could not have installed a sub meter for the elect would have done the same job as util owned meter but for one difference, the LL would have had to read it and sit down and figure it out. As far as the heating system goes Im going to guess that its possible your LL has this homes heating on a year around budget plan and that its entirely possible that this home has some pretty scary heating bills with out it being on budget billing.

Call your utility Co. and ask for an monthly estimate or read out of the utility bills for the last 12 months for that address.

Potential tenants do this to gage what their bills will be.

With the PC's it sounds like the LL is being nitpicky.

Maybe time to move where a LL does not reside.

 

[Who's Liable?]

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

Hes also claiming hes charging me "more" for my computers (i have 3 computers that are always on, plus a 4th thats on at night only)... yet he has a pool downstairs which generates $$, so why should i have to pay into his pool but he doesnt pay into my computers? I think they should balance out.

Anyway, just trying to see my legal right. If he expects me to pay 1/3 of the utilities shouldnt I be allowed a copy of the electrical bill each month?

You will need to verify with your states LL/T laws regarding this. Some states deem a LL must provide a copy of the bill, others state they do not.

However charging you "extra" for your computers is illegal IF it is NOT listed as an "extra" cost on your original lease. Yes, running multiple computers can increase the utility bill due to extra cooling costs, however if your LL did NOT include this in the signed lease, they cannot add it later. Your LL has essentially changed the terms of the lease. Did you sign off on this extra charge?

 

[Stephen1]

Call your utility Co. and ask for an monthly estimate or read out of the utility bills for the last 12 months for that address.

Some utility companies will not provide info on how much person X is paying except to that person. I ran into that problem as a LL trying to learn what the utilities cost since I was telling the applicants that they would be responsible for that cost. As the LL I finally found someone at the utility company who would quote me average ranges for the utility costs. Also got another tenant to give me hard numbers.

 

[Vycor]

I tried calling the utility company but they would only give that info to the owner of the property, not me... so not sure what to do here, they wanted $125 this month for electricity, that means its $375 a month for electricity? Seems very high for my area.

 

[sandyclaus]

I tried calling the utility company but they would only give that info to the owner of the property, not me... so not sure what to do here, they wanted $125 this month for electricity, that means its $375 a month for electricity? Seems very high for my area.

Many utility companies are maintaining the privacy of their customers by not releasing account, usage, or payment information to anyone other than the account holder. It seems that's the case with you.

Really, the only issue here is whether or not you are being charged a fair 1/3 share of the total bill, because that's what you agreed to in your lease/rental agreement. If you are still disputing the past utility share as being too high, you could consider suing the LL to recover a portion of what you claim to be an overpayment. Of course, you may require some proof of why you feel it's high, which means you could subpeona actual utility bills from the LL to prove your suspicions.

 

[FarmerJ]

And your atty generals consumer affairs desk tells you exactly what when you asked ` in a rental where the landlord does bill splitting for utilitys does he /she have to provide me with a actual copy of the bill if I request it in writting?