you would think I'd learn
| Once again I had an otherwise great tenant skip out on his final utility bill. I think part of the problem is that Wisconsin law states that tenant security deposits be refunded no more than 21 days after the lease is done, but that many utility companies don't bill that promptly. People who are seasoned renters know this, and they also know that most landlords will pay that bill rather than have utilities for their building shut off. I send a security deposit statement to all our former tenants within 21 days of move-out and I'm going to add a line to that statement for final utilities. That way I will always be reminded to call the utility and check on the status of the final bill... in both cases the tenant didn't even bother to leave their forwarding address - possible proof that they had no intention of ever paying the bill. If there is enough money in the deposit to pay the bill, I will just pay it out of the deposit and refund the rest, otherwise I will give the utility company the forwarding address and have them start attempting to collect any balance ASAP. |
posted by savvy at 5/23/2008 08:49:00 AM
Comments on "you would think I'd learn"
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Survivalwoman said ... (12:39 PM) :
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Daniel said ... (1:48 PM) :
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savvy said ... (1:51 PM) :
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Jerry said ... (4:11 PM) :
post a commentHaving Recently Moved I Noticed that we got utility bills from our last apt transfered , yet when i talked to our last landlord I found out They too had been billed the same amount as us. Also I found that they did not connect or transfer the account as they shoudl have but opened a new account. Have you taken the time to fully talk with your utility provider. Errors of this sort seem very common these days. Bill Both people and they eventually pay. SOmeone POckets it otherwise.
Have you considered just always paying the utility bill yourself and charging a higher monthly rent than you would otherwise? I own a rental property and that's what I do for gas and water (although not electricity).
My rental is a condo and each unit is not metered separately for gas and water anyway. One big bill for the entire complex goes to the association and each unit owner pays a proportional share of the total bill to the association.
Daniel - No, I hadn't considered that. One of the things I like about our building is that everything is metered separately... I don't want to pay for someone to have all their friends over to do laundry or to have the heat on and the windows open. I'm sure it does simply things a lot, but I can't imagine how high those bills would be.
Yikes. I hear that this is becoming more and more common -- or maybe I am more and more aware of it because we are about to start renting out our home and it leads me to think about it a lot! Fortunately, the security deposit gives you some insurance that you won't have to take it out of pocket, but it's a shame that it comes to that.
Jerry
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