[sheriff]

Originally Posted by martian82

The tenant's name was on the bill. That's what I don't understand! I can somewhat see if they said the owner is responsible, but they're trying to pass it on to someone who has nothing to do with that balance at all.

Something's fishy here. Not only does it sound wrong, but illegal. Try this: Consumer Q and A

[jfkIII]

Originally Posted by martian82

Unfortunately, the previous tenant is my husband's sister, so punching her lights out isn't really an option.

Originally Posted by martian82

The tenant's name was on the bill. That's what I don't understand! I can somewhat see if they said the owner is responsible, but they're trying to pass it on to someone who has nothing to do with that balance at all.

So, it's possible that the landlord and previous tenant both have the same last name? If so, Nevada Power may be thinking that something fishy is going on at your end.

[5kingsinvegas]

We had something similar happen to us when we first moved here. The house we rented had an outstanding bill from previous tenants. When I called Nevada Power from MI to arrange to have the power put in our name they told me that the previous account would have to be paid in full before it could be switched. We contacted the landlords who did pay the bill, even though it belonged to the prior tenants, so that we could switch it over.

In addition, we could not have the power turned on at our new home (Summerlin) until our "past due" balance of $45.00 was paid on our old home (Aliante). We weren't even trying to close out the Aliante account, just add the Summerlin one.

On the other hand, Southwest Gas was more than accomodating as was the rest of the utilities. This is why I personally feel that it is wrong for the untility companies to basically have a monopoly on services... you CAN'T take your business elsewhere and they know it.