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It's always my fault... Tenant Complaint

select-fireselect-fire Member Posts: 69,516 ✭✭✭✭
edited January 2017 in General Discussion
Get a call.. Tenants electric bill is high. I ask them to describe..what is high.. They would not answer. So I take a ride to see what the problem is. Knock on door , walk in....OMG it is an oven inside. I look at thermostat.... 80 degree. Holy Crap. Tenant says the house just won't stay warm. WTH are you nuts? So I ask to see the bill... Past Due...$449 Due Now $759. I hand the bill back and wish them well. The electric co. will shut off power soon. No air leaks or anything wrong with furnace. Just a couple of Black Folks that are have a cold nature. Very common.
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Comments

  • Dads3040Dads3040 Member Posts: 13,552 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Well, you are the landlord and a paleface...so it must be your fault. [;)]

    Before my Dad died, he used to keep his apartment at 80 or so. He was a skinny little fella, and had crappy circulation. I always told him not to worry about it. Keep it so you can cook a meatloaf on the dining room table if you want. I just paid the bill. [^]
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  • montanajoemontanajoe Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 60,206 ******
    edited November -1
    can they stay with you until they get caught up?? Just like 6 months or so.
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  • TooBigTooBig Member Posts: 28,559 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Most utilities have a winter clause and can't cut them off but they can restrict what they use.
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  • select-fireselect-fire Member Posts: 69,516 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by montanajoe
    can they stay with you until they get caught up?? Just like 6 months or so.


    Not a chance. No clause in utility company aside a medical reason. They are only good for 3 months and must be renewed each month.
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  • woodshed87woodshed87 Member Posts: 23,478 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by montanajoe
    can they stay with you until they get caught up?? Just like 6 months or so.
    [:o)][:o)][:o)]
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  • grumpygygrumpygy Member Posts: 48,464 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Sounds like the Folks at work. Sitting there with Just Jeans and a T-shirt and I'm sweating. Guy I work with comes in and turns on his space heater cause he is cold. Thermostat is set at 75 so its not cold.
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  • asopasop Member Posts: 9,016 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Select-I lease industrial property but I'd rather leave spaces vacant rather than allowing some marginal tenant in. I always request references and have them fill out a "pre-lease" agreement which requires a 2 month security deposit. Amazing how this "filters" out problems!
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  • OakieOakie Member Posts: 40,565 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    My tenant has her thermostat set on 78 and windows wide open. It is 16 here tonight. She likes the cold and her kids want it hot. I could care less. They pay the utilities.
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  • woodshed87woodshed87 Member Posts: 23,478 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Oakie
    My tenant has her thermostat set on 78 and windows wide open. It is 16 here tonight. She likes the cold and her kids want it hot. I could care less. They pay the utilities.

    We know Who Gets to Replace the Furnace When The Heat exchanger
    is Burnt out[:0]
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  • slumlord44slumlord44 Member Posts: 3,702 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I could write a book on this. Windows open in the winter. They refuse to close storm windows. They have no idea what a furnace filter is for. I change or at least check them routinely. I do have a few tennants who are responsible enough to change them but I also routinely check to make sure they are ok. I usually check the last 12 months usage between tennants so I have an idea what they should be. Same with water bills. I check toilets and faucets for leaks when I am in a place for any reason. One funny thing I had when i was standing at the front door and the tennant was explaining to me how the wind broke the storm door. The little boy standing next to him poped up and said that daddy broke it when he was arguing with mom. Priceless! I removed the broken door and never replaced it. Took it out of the deposit when he left.
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  • dakotashooter2dakotashooter2 Member Posts: 6,186
    edited November -1
    I work for the utilities company. Hear all the complaints and excuses. Often they blame the meter of which many of ours are the old mechanical type. 99% of the time if we change it out to a new electronic type their bill goes up. LOL.... I live in ND and we don't have a winter clause though the gas co does. -15 degrees makes for a good incentive for paying your bill.
    There are times when I really wonder how someone could use so much power.
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  • slumlord44slumlord44 Member Posts: 3,702 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Tell me about the new meter thing. Built a new house here on the famly farm in '80. Tore down the old farm house after it was done. Used the meter from the old house for 6 month to a year untill Ameren decided to install a new meeter. Monthly bill went up like 50%. Raised hell with Ameren forever and no help.
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  • mag00mag00 Member Posts: 4,719 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    They changed out my electric meter this summer and bill went up a bit. I grilled them relentlessly on calibration and testing and finally got a new mechanical one instead of digital and bill dropped back down.

    Last week got a new digital water meter, should be interesting.
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  • dakotashooter2dakotashooter2 Member Posts: 6,186
    edited November -1
    The gears in the mechanical ones Will wear after years of use causing them to slip and under register usage. Sometimes it takes several year before they gradually quit registering. Many people get away with it for years till they complain and a new meter is installed which reads accurately.I tell them we can replace it but I probably won't help. In 21 years I have yet yo see one that tested high.
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  • shilowarshilowar Member Posts: 38,811 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I visited my folks last week an they keep it 76-78, plus had their gas fireplace on. I thought I was going to roast!! I spent the week in shorts and t-shirt. I was glad to gt home to my 68 home. [8D]
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  • Henry0ReillyHenry0Reilly Member Posts: 10,892 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by select-fire
    Past Due...$449 Due Now $759. I hand the bill back and wish them well. The electric co. will shut off power soon.


    The man who owned the gun shop where I used to work had apartments on the 2nd floor of the building. If tenants left owing utility bills he had to pay them off to get service turned back on for the next tenant.
    I used to recruit for the NRA until they sold us down the river (again!) in Heller v. DC. See my auctions (if any) under username henryreilly
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  • Mr. PerfectMr. Perfect Member, Moderator Posts: 66,437 ******
    edited November -1
    Delta T is a driving factor? Who knew?
    Some will die in hot pursuit
    And fiery auto crashes
    Some will die in hot pursuit
    While sifting through my ashes
    Some will fall in love with life
    And drink it from a fountain
    That is pouring like an avalanche
    Coming down the mountain
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  • acdoddacdodd Member Posts: 1,314 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    My brother has extremely high electric bills.
    Last year he insulated the attic and added insulation in the crawl space.
    He replaced all the windows with energy efficient ones.
    His bill went up $50 a month.
    I really think he has a meter problem but he can't get the power company to do anything about it.
    A couple years ago he would call me and say he had lost power to half the house.
    It would come and go.
    Checked everything we could. Power company out several times and no help.
    Finally after over a year one of the repair guys actually went up the pole and found the connection to his house burnt up.
    Replaced that and he hasn't lost power to half his house since.
    His power bills are over twice what the neighbors pay and the power company sends him letters telling him that.
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  • select-fireselect-fire Member Posts: 69,516 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Henry0Reilly
    quote:Originally posted by select-fire
    Past Due...$449 Due Now $759. I hand the bill back and wish them well. The electric co. will shut off power soon.


    The man who owned the gun shop where I used to work had apartments on the 2nd floor of the building. If tenants left owing utility bills he had to pay them off to get service turned back on for the next tenant.


    Electric Co. tried that one time. Old Tenant left with a bill.. After a call from the Magistrate they decided to turn the power on in the new tenants name. If not I was going after them for lost income. Not my electric..
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  • allen griggsallen griggs Member Posts: 35,690 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    They are probably suffering from hypothyroid. Feeling cold all the time is the number one symptom of hypothyroid.
    I am serious, you ought to tell them about this, if they can get diagnosed and treated it will turn their lives around. I suffered from it for 8 years and it is really bad.
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  • wpagewpage Member Posts: 10,201 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    One thing a landlord must learn. Always check prior landlord on a tenant...

    Corollary.... Never agree to pay any utility for tenant.
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  • brewer12345brewer12345 Member Posts: 83 ✭
    edited November -1
    Heh, I mostly heat the house with scrounged wood that I get for nothing off {elsewhere}. This must be highly unusual here in the burbs. Last year I used so much less gas than average that they sent out a guy to read/check out my meter in February. Last month I got an email that said I used 60% less gas than my most efficient 10% of neighbors, so I would not be surprised at all to be checked again.
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  • slumlord44slumlord44 Member Posts: 3,702 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Checking the prospective tennant's current landlord won't necessairily help. Need to go back a couple. Current landlord may tell you anything to get rid of the guy.
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