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Any electrician can install a private submeter to determine the use by the apartment, it will not affect the city meter. For gas, only the gas company can add a meter and they wouldn't do it without the zoning change and it would cost a lot.
Unless it's wired correctly it will be impossible to install a meter. All the circuits feeding in the rental would need to be ran all the way to the new service. And as UltraRunner said if you are not zoned for multi units you can't do it. I tried doing it in one of my rentals and its wired correctly but the city won't allow it.
One of my other rentals the city allows it so I split the utilities.
You're actually in a fairly good position here. Do you want to keep living there? Negotiate with the landlord a fair amount for rent including utilities, and have her take the utility accounts into her name, she pays the utility bills. Be sure to get her to make the deal retroactive to date of move in, and sign a new lease with you, and have her credit you for the excessive amounts you've already paid for utilities.
This is the most practical solution I've seen in this discussion. That's just a crazy arrangement where the landlord had OP pay for utilities and then landlord makes a contribution. It should be the other way around. The landlord should pay for the utilities and then the tenant should have an arrangement to reimburse for tenant's use of utilities.
As already mentioned, moving out is a great solution to consider. That's a total reset. Start out fresh in a more conventional situation.
I still like the idea of calling the power company for a temporary shut off. But honestly I sometimes get carried away with a "gotcha" when somebody annoys me. The way I see this coming down is that the utilities go off and then you have a heart to heart discussion about renegotiating your arrangement. But we men often go a bit overboard where a woman might be more level headed and have the discussion without the "gotcha."
I don't see any practical solution that does not have the utilities going into the landlord's name. The practical solutions IMO:
1.) Utilities go into landlord's name, landlord and tenant come to some agreement regarding apportioning expense.
Hey, I know this thread is old, but I'm in a similar situation. The unit on my floor is illegal (I just found out) therefore I don't have my own electric/gas meter. My landlord charges me 10% of the bill for the entire building. It's quite a lot. I split the costs w my roomate, however we both work most of the time and are barely at home. No way my part can be $75 for last month(I never paid that much living alone). We never get to see an actual bill, just his "estimate" that he calculated. How do I go about it? How do I negoiate with him or should I just call 311 and ask for an inspector to come? I don't feel like paying for something that I don't actual get to see. For all I know he can charge me whatever he feels like (and the bill is getting higher monthly).
I manage a condominium that has one building that is older and doesn't have individual meters, we take the total bills and divide by the 15 owners and send them each a bill. I've had owners in the past complain because some were there part time and don't rent, others are in a summer rental program, one lives there full time. However the solution (installing water meters) is cost prohibitive. Of course, our County recently approved an assessment of $50/month per meter for the next 5 years so the newer buildings now each owner is paying that $50 fee monthly, in this one older building the owner is paying $10 quarterly. The muttering about water costs has since stopped.....
Hey, I know this thread is old, but I'm in a similar situation. The unit on my floor is illegal (I just found out) therefore I don't have my own electric/gas meter. My landlord charges me 10% of the bill for the entire building. It's quite a lot. I split the costs w my roomate, however we both work most of the time and are barely at home. No way my part can be $75 for last month(I never paid that much living alone). We never get to see an actual bill, just his "estimate" that he calculated. How do I go about it? How do I negoiate with him or should I just call 311 and ask for an inspector to come? I don't feel like paying for something that I don't actual get to see. For all I know he can charge me whatever he feels like (and the bill is getting higher monthly).
You're in a tricky situation because if you start making waves and the unit is indeed illegal and it's discovered, you'll be forced to move out of it. Best plan is to (a) read your lease and see what it says about utilities and (b) sit down with your LL and tell him why you feel the amount you're being charged is excessive. You can get a very rough idea of your electrical costs by going online to figure out the usage of whatever electrical appliances/lights you use and multiplying that by the current rate per kWh in your jurisdiction.
If electrical heat is included then that's another issue altogether and hopefully something you've taken into consideration.
See what you can work out with your LL and if it comes to nothing and you really do feel (based on current market rate for similar places, etc.) that you're being charged too much then then you can look for somewhere else to live and get out of your lease without penalty - but ONLY if you've established that it's an illegal unit as in that case it's highly unlikely that the LL would take you to court and open up the hornet's nest. Good luck!
You're in a tricky situation because if you start making waves and the unit is indeed illegal and it's discovered, you'll be forced to move out of it. Best plan is to (a) read your lease and see what it says about utilities and (b) sit down with your LL and tell him why you feel the amount you're being charged is excessive. You can get a very rough idea of your electrical costs by going online to figure out the usage of whatever electrical appliances/lights you use and multiplying that by the current rate per kWh in your jurisdiction.
If electrical heat is included then that's another issue altogether and hopefully something you've taken into consideration.
See what you can work out with your LL and if it comes to nothing and you really do feel (based on current market rate for similar places, etc.) that you're being charged too much then then you can look for somewhere else to live and get out of your lease without penalty - but ONLY if you've established that it's an illegal unit as in that case it's highly unlikely that the LL would take you to court and open up the hornet's nest. Good luck!
Thank you for your advise. I have proof that my unit is illegal. I went to the department of buildings. It's suppose to be just one dwelling on the the 3rd floor. I know that the unit next to me get their own electric/gas bill. I'll talk to him first and see if I can negotiate something with him before I take legal actions. If he won't, then I just want to be able to move out before my lease ends with my full deposit back, since the unit is illegal.
It says " tenant must pay for all electric, gas, telephone and other utility services used in the apartment and arrange for them with the public utility company", "landlord will supply (a) heat as required by law (b)hot and cold water for kitchen sink and bathroom.
However it seems he's charging me for heat as well, I can't explain why the bill would be so high otherwise.
It says " tenant must pay for all electric, gas, telephone and other utility services used in the apartment and arrange for them with the public utility company", "landlord will supply (a) heat as required by law (b)hot and cold water for kitchen sink and bathroom.
However it seems he's charging me for heat as well, I can't explain why the bill would be so high otherwise.
That lease clause is moot because you don't have your own meter(s) so can't arrange billing for them through the utility companies.
I have a feeling that if you can't work out a compromise with the LL, no "legal action" will be necessary and he'll simply let you break the lease with no penalty. He knows the unit is illegal.
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