Landlord requiring me to fill oil tank upon move in (lease, tenant)
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I signed a lease on a house last week through a renting company. The move in date is this Friday. Today the oil tank was found to have water in it. They are replacing the tank. One of the lease requirements was to keep the oil tank filled for maintenance reasons. I assumed that they would fill the tank, but was told that I would be required to pay for the tank to be completely filled. I assumed that because they were requiring me to keep the tank filled that they had been doing the same, and that when I moved in it would be at least half full. However now that they are replacing the tank, it will be empty, and I will be required to fill it. I'm a trusting person, but this doesn't feel right. I don't know what I should do.
If you don't fill the tank the heat might go out. If the heat goes out the pipes might freeze. If the pipes freeze they'll burst. You won't be too trusting, you'll be soaking wet and trying to explain to the landlord how you let the heat go out.
The oil company can tell you how much oil is left in the tank at the end of the heating season and if you lease runs till next Feb just try to leave it with that amount. It ain't like the landlord is going to resell the stuff back to OPEC...
I know what you are getting at..... you are being required to fill a tank when you got it empty....
but don't worry. I think the landlord will fill it.
If they don't, just ask something like..."how does the tank get filled?" or "where does the oil go"
things like that. That will remind them to fill it.
If the lease requirement is to keep oil in the tank, that means you pay for your own heat. Getting a new tank empty, have oil dropped off. I'm not sure what your question is?
Quote:
Originally Posted by bdflynn
I signed a lease on a house last week through a renting company. The move in date is this Friday. Today the oil tank was found to have water in it. They are replacing the tank. One of the leaserequirements was to keep the oil tank filled for maintenance reasons. I assumed that they would fill the tank, but was told that I would be required to pay for the tank to be completely filled. I assumed that because they were requiring me to keep the tank filled that they had been doing the same, and that when I moved in it would be at least half full. However now that they are replacing the tank, it will be empty, and I will be required to fill it. I'm a trusting person, but this doesn't feel right. I don't know what I should do.
I don't see the difference between you filling the tank now, and the tank being filled later, after you've used the oil? Fill it with what you think you will need, if the landlord does not fill it for you.
We have one rental unit with an oil tank. We require the tenant to have service put into their name, the same as any utility company. The oil company comes out and does a read at move in and then fills as necessary during tenancy. At move out, they do another read. If the tank is less full at move out than move in, they send a final bill to bring it back to the same level. If the tank is more full at move out than move in, they send a refund check and bill the owner or the next tenant, as appropriate. In other words, it is treated pretty much the same as any other utility...you pay for exactly what was used during your tenancy.
Does your oil company not track this way, or are you using a different company than the owner used?
My rental with an oil tank worked the same as Lacerts noted above. When a renter moved out, the level was measured and I paid the renter for the oil in the tank. When a new rented moved in, they paid me for the amount in the tank, and on and on....!!
If you are required to fill an empty tank upon move in, you will be re-imbursted for the quanity left in the tank when you move out. The part that hurts is the cost to fill an empty tank..!
My tank was 625 gallons, and at the price of diesel fuel, it hurts big time to pay for that much oil all at once. I had my tank removed two yeras ago, when diesel was almost $5 a gallon. Multiply that by 625 and you see why I got rid of the tank.
I had the gas company drop in a meter, replaced the furnace, and no more fuel oil tank problems. It's much easier on the renter.. of course you don't have that option.
I had this issue with a landlord in the past. He made me pay to have the whole tank filled when I moved in, which was a lot of money. I only lived there for a year and didn't use much of it at all. The problem was he didn't reimburse me for the amount I paid for and didn't use. My advice would be to make sure you have it written into the lease that the landlord must reimburse you for whatever amount you don't use. If he refuses to have that put into the lease, I wouldn't rent from him.
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