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Yeah, if tenant moved out at end of lease, they can remove utlity from their name. If they moved out before end of term, technically isn;t the lease still in effect until rerented? If lease required tenant to keep utility on, they have to keep it on in their name. The tenant probably can legaly remove it from their name with the utility company but until rerented, can't the LL add utilities to their cost of rerenting and deduct from security deposit?
I would take my name off no matter what. Let the LL put it in their name and then charge for it if it is a breaking the lease type situation where the tenant is still responsible.
Moved out =/= lease is done, or that you are released from obligation if you break a lease. That might have been the agreement, that the LL agreed to let them break the lease without penalty if they would agree to keep the utilities on until a new tenant was found. A LL does not have to allow you to break a lease, terms can be negotiated. This is a common one. If you are still in a lease, the LL can require you to keep utilities on and in your name, because it is still your responsibility.
Or maybe you are asking why the utilities need to stay on at all? That would fall under "safeguarding the property from damage", which a tenant has the obligation to do. If they are still the tenant, which has nothing to do with whether or not they currently live there, they need to keep pipes from freezing, which means keeping the relevant utilities on (gas, power and water, in my area)
This is an interesting point. However, the "tenant" is only a "tenant" when until they deliver the property to the landlord. If they were still a tenant they would have a right to occupy the unit. And their responsibility of safeguarding the unit ends when they deliver possession of the unit to the landlord, then it is the landlord's responsibility. If the tenants agreed to do this explicitly in exchange for being released from the lease then thats different but I doubt that the case, since if they did they wouldn't be asking if they had to do it.
Moved out =/= lease is done, or that you are released from obligation if you break a lease. That might have been the agreement, that the LL agreed to let them break the lease without penalty if they would agree to keep the utilities on until a new tenant was found. A LL does not have to allow you to break a lease, terms can be negotiated. This is a common one. If you are still in a lease, the LL can require you to keep utilities on and in your name, because it is still your responsibility.
Or maybe you are asking why the utilities need to stay on at all? That would fall under "safeguarding the property from damage", which a tenant has the obligation to do. If they are still the tenant, which has nothing to do with whether or not they currently live there, they need to keep pipes from freezing, which means keeping the relevant utilities on (gas, power and water, in my area)
This is incorrect, I think.
The point is... moving out IS ending the lease, albeit early and against the actual terms... therefore requires potential recovery by the LL.
I think in most leases you sign there is a part about paying for the utilities through the lease term. Now if the OP is not going to pay the rent for the months left I am assuming if the LL can't find a tenant they will sue you. So if you take the utilities out of your name they will sue you for that as well I would think.
It cannot "damage" the appliances for the power to be shut off. There is no reason that the utilities need to be in your name, unless the LL wants to use those utilities even though you're no longer living there, without having to pay for them him or herself.
Tell the utility company you want them shut off, on a specific date, and refuse to be liable for any usage after that date.
I always assumed once a tenant moved out, the utilities automatically go back into the landlord's name. Everytime I looked at an apartment, the electric was still on and I just assumed it was in the landlord's name, not the previous tenant.
It seems like the landlord in the OP doesn't want to pay the electric while it sits empty, or maybe they are in collections with the electric company??
The point is... moving out IS ending the lease, albeit early and against the actual terms... therefore requires potential recovery by the LL.
No, a tenant cannot unilaterally break a lease. It is a bilateral agreement. Therefore, the LL does not have to agree to it just because they moved out. Return of possession does not necessarily end responsibility if it does not coincide with the end of the signed lease. At least that is my experience in my state. Other states may be different.
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OK, if the tenant breached the lease then obviously that's a different ball game but that wasn't indicated in the OP's post and making assumptions can make every post segue into 20+ pages.
I don't think it was an out of line question. It was the very first thing I thought when I read the OP, because it is a scenerio that could explain WHY the landlord could be requiring this. Sometimes it is necessary to ask relevant questions to ensure that people get the right advice. It is also an assumption to think you have all necessary information in the original post.
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I always assumed once a tenant moved out, the utilities automatically go back into the landlord's name. Everytime I looked at an apartment, the electric was still on and I just assumed it was in the landlord's name, not the previous tenant.
Nothing automatic about it. The prior tenant has to schedule them to be taken out of their name. Then if the LL has an agreement in place with the utility company, the utilities revert back to the LL at that point. If not, they are turned off. In my area, the gas and power companies allow "stay on" agreements with Landlords, but the water company does not. But yes, normally during a vacancy, the utilities are going to be on in the landlord's name.
Being responsible to pay for utilities and having utilities in your name don't have to be the same thing. So even if the lease says the tenant is responsible for paying the utilities in the event the tenant breaks the lease doesn't mean they can not take it out of their name. Now if the lease is so specific that it says the tenant is responible to pay and have them in their name in the event of breaking the lease I guess that is a different story.
I didn't notice this one before, but actually, having the power off CAN damage the fridge. Unpowered fridges should always be stored with a rag or something in the door to hold the door ajar. Otherwise even an empty, clean fridge starts to smell, and it is very difficult to get rid of that smell.
If you clean the fridge it will not smell. The fridge is empty in the store room, and in the warehouse and it is not plugged in and it can sit there for a long time...
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