Chibchub123
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
Kind of a lot of explanation, so anyone who can wade through it and give me some advice would be great!
So I just moved in with my brother up in the mountains of southern California in December. He lives in a house that was converted into two two-bedroom apartments by the owner. The rental company told him when he moved in (August or so) that he needed to put the electric utility in his name. He did, but the electric company seems to send the rental company the electric bill still (Somehow? can't get information very easily without causing a problem because they seem pretty annoyed with us already and our lease is already up). The rental agency claims to have a private meter that tracks the different apartments electricity usage and they split the bill and tell us what we need to pay. Before my brother and his girlfriend were paying roughly $150 a month or less.
Starting in December, with my move-in around the 15th or 16th of the month, their new bill was over $400 dollars! In January their bill was over $500. Starting January 1st, the tennant in the other apartment moved out and a new tenant moved in which leads us to be a bit suspicious. We believe we are being billed incorrectly but I don't know what my rights are in this case or how far I want to push this rental agency with our lease being over and they are the ONLY rental agency in this small mountain town, so we need to stay on good terms as much as possible if we want to continue to rent up here. I would add, in December when I moved in it was pretty cold and my brother and his girlfriend had two space heaters running almost non-stop, which I counseled MANY times was going to be expensive, but I never expected a jump up from $150 to $500 because of two space heaters. We were also without electricity for a whole WEEK in January due to a snowstorm that knocked out power and we are still being told our bill is $550. (Tue, Jan 5th to Sun, Jan 10th!)
Currently it is Me, My Brother, and His girlfriend in one two-bedroom apartment and a newly married young couple in the downstairs apartment who are gone as much if not more than they are home, strangely. We haven't gotten much of a chance to speak with them yet.
Is there anything legally I can do in this rather unusual situation to insure I am being billed fairly and for only my (our) portion of the electric bill? I am not overly worried about my own personal usage, as I would happily split the price with my brother. I'm Just afraid we may be paying the old tenants bill or perhaps the new tenants and someone is making a mistake.
Kind of a lot of explanation, so anyone who can wade through it and give me some advice would be great!
So I just moved in with my brother up in the mountains of southern California in December. He lives in a house that was converted into two two-bedroom apartments by the owner. The rental company told him when he moved in (August or so) that he needed to put the electric utility in his name. He did, but the electric company seems to send the rental company the electric bill still (Somehow? can't get information very easily without causing a problem because they seem pretty annoyed with us already and our lease is already up). The rental agency claims to have a private meter that tracks the different apartments electricity usage and they split the bill and tell us what we need to pay. Before my brother and his girlfriend were paying roughly $150 a month or less.
Starting in December, with my move-in around the 15th or 16th of the month, their new bill was over $400 dollars! In January their bill was over $500. Starting January 1st, the tennant in the other apartment moved out and a new tenant moved in which leads us to be a bit suspicious. We believe we are being billed incorrectly but I don't know what my rights are in this case or how far I want to push this rental agency with our lease being over and they are the ONLY rental agency in this small mountain town, so we need to stay on good terms as much as possible if we want to continue to rent up here. I would add, in December when I moved in it was pretty cold and my brother and his girlfriend had two space heaters running almost non-stop, which I counseled MANY times was going to be expensive, but I never expected a jump up from $150 to $500 because of two space heaters. We were also without electricity for a whole WEEK in January due to a snowstorm that knocked out power and we are still being told our bill is $550. (Tue, Jan 5th to Sun, Jan 10th!)
Currently it is Me, My Brother, and His girlfriend in one two-bedroom apartment and a newly married young couple in the downstairs apartment who are gone as much if not more than they are home, strangely. We haven't gotten much of a chance to speak with them yet.
Is there anything legally I can do in this rather unusual situation to insure I am being billed fairly and for only my (our) portion of the electric bill? I am not overly worried about my own personal usage, as I would happily split the price with my brother. I'm Just afraid we may be paying the old tenants bill or perhaps the new tenants and someone is making a mistake.