Nightmare! What shall I do?? (Arlington, Alexandria: apartment, leasing, home)

[Syadnan]

I forget to mention this; she is a realtor.

[LVMYDACH]

Your lease is a binding legal document. I would assume that if the lease states ALL utilities are included in your monthly rent payment then you are not liable for increased cost of the electricity. That is the landlords responsibility/problem! If a specific clause was added by the landlord in the lease that states you are responsible for paying/sharing additional money if the utility bills are higher, then you would be responsible for doing so. I highly doubt if that clause was added. Don't let this landlord/owner get over on you if your lease does not state you must pay for additional utility costs! By law I don't know how she can even legally terminate your lease right now just because she's not happy with a high electric bill. I would definitely want to move out under these circumstances, but make sure you get in WRITING before you leave that you are officially released from your lease from this landlord! If she will not provide this document to you, I would recommend contacting a real estate lawyer for advice/assistance ASAP. Otherwise, she may sue you for breach of your rental contract.

I've had to deal with a few rental problems/issues for my daughter while she was a college student in Northern VA and Richmond. It's very important to review your lease terms carefully and know your rights, especially if a problem comes up! Good luck!

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by Syadnan

I dont have actual damages but she is demanding for me to pay $85 for "abusing" her electricity. I am not going to pay that under ANY circumstances.

Correct, don't pay. She would have to sue you to get the $85. My guess is that she will not.

[Syadnan]

Originally Posted by LVMYDACH

Your lease is a binding legal document. I would assume that if the lease states ALL utilities are included in your monthly rent payment then you are not liable for increased cost of the electricity. That is the landlords responsibility/problem! If a specific clause was added by the landlord in the lease that states you are responsible for paying/sharing additional money if the utility bills are higher, then you would be responsible for doing so. I highly doubt if that clause was added. Don't let this landlord/owner get over on you if your lease does not state you must pay for additional utility costs! By law I don't know how she can even legally terminate your lease right now just because she's not happy with a high electric bill. I would definitely want to move out under these circumstances, but make sure you get in WRITING before you leave that you are officially released from your lease from this landlord! If she will not provide this document to you, I would recommend contacting a real estate lawyer for advice/assistance ASAP. Otherwise, she may sue you for breach of your rental contract.

I've had to deal with a few rental problems/issues for my daughter while she was a college student in Northern VA and Richmond. It's very important to review your lease terms carefully and know your rights, especially if a problem comes up! Good luck!

My lease is on a month to month basis, I have no lease term and can terminate with 30 days of notice. She emailed me the termination contract stating that she is asking me to leave because I have "abused" her electricity and refused to pay the amount. The contract clearly states that utilities are included. We discusses verbally and on the contract. She said last night that she wished she had done that because she had no idea how the bill would go too. It is not my problem that her bill went that high. She will have to sue me to get the amount she is asking for beause there is not chance in hell I would give her that much money for such a short amount of time. Also, I have to wait the 30 days because I want to get my securityu deposit back. Actually, do I still get that regardless of her kicking me out? She doesnt have a just reason so I would assume she cant withhold that from me.

One thing that come to me. This morning, as I was leaving for work, she asked me to give her the house key because she couldnt find hers. My entrance to the house is through the garage door and then the entrance to the house is one more door with a lock. I still have the key to that door but now Im kind of worried she might change the garage key code. Im a little nervous now.

[Syadnan]

Originally Posted by spencgr

Suing her would only be an option if you have actual damages. This could possibly be moving costs.....

I dont want to waste money suing her. If anything Ill have my dads friend, whose a realtor, talk to her and try to come to an agreement. Agreement would be that I get my security deposit, I dont pay the electricity bill, and I move out without her ever contacting me.

[LVMYDACH]

That's good you have a month-to-month lease! I would do exactly what is necessary to meet your legal obligation on the 30-day termination notice from her. You should get your deposit back if there are no damages, etc. that she can document that you are liable to pay for after moving out. If she attempts to withhold the additional money for the electric bill you could take her to small claims court to get it returned, but I'm not sure that's worth the hassle. I hope she doesn't lock you out of the house right now. I would be rather worried too! She seems rather difficult and unreasonable to deal with! She obviously doesn't know that if you have an individual sign a lease that states ALL UTILITIES INCLUDED in rent - that is exactly what it means! I'm afraid it's gonna be a long month for you until you can move out! Thank goodness you have a month-to-month lease!

[Syadnan]

Originally Posted by LVMYDACH

That's good you have a month-to-month lease! I would do exactly what is necessary to meet your legal obligation on the 30-day termination notice from her. You should get your deposit back if there are no damages, etc. that she can document that you are liable to pay for after moving out. If she attempts to withhold the additional money for the electric bill you could take her to small claims court to get it returned, but I'm not sure that's worth the hassle. I hope she doesn't lock you out of the house right now. I would be rather worried too! She seems rather difficult and unreasonable to deal with! She obviously doesn't know that if you have an individual sign a lease that states ALL UTILITIES INCLUDED in rent - that is exactly what it means! I'm afraid it's gonna be a long month for you until you can move out! Thank goodness you have a month-to-month lease!

Having that month to month lease really saved me here. I wouldve been completely stuck if I had a lease term. I would have to pay the remaining amount, or stay nd pay utilities. Damn, what a nightmare tha would have been! When we agreed on all utilities being including I had a witness. He is a licenses realtor who can vouch for me. Its pretty sad that a realtor is doing this to herself. You would think she would know better. If she didnt blame for the increase in the bill then maybe I would have met her half way. Im a reasonable guy.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by Syadnan

My lease is on a month to month basis, I have no lease term and can terminate with 30 days of notice. She emailed me the termination contract stating that she is asking me to leave because I have "abused" her electricity and refused to pay the amount. The contract clearly states that utilities are included. We discusses verbally and on the contract. She said last night that she wished she had done that because she had no idea how the bill would go too. It is not my problem that her bill went that high. She will have to sue me to get the amount she is asking for beause there is not chance in hell I would give her that much money for such a short amount of time. Also, I have to wait the 30 days because I want to get my securityu deposit back. Actually, do I still get that regardless of her kicking me out? She doesnt have a just reason so I would assume she cant withhold that from me.

One thing that come to me. This morning, as I was leaving for work, she asked me to give her the house key because she couldnt find hers. My entrance to the house is through the garage door and then the entrance to the house is one more door with a lock. I still have the key to that door but now Im kind of worried she might change the garage key code. Im a little nervous now.

There is a good chance she will deduct the amount from the Security deposit, even if she is in the wrong. You would have to sue her to get it back. I don't think it costs that much in small claims court, but probably not worth it for $85. Have you paid her the total amount rent due for the next 30 days? If not, you could put the remaining rent (or at least $85 dollars of it) in escrow, where she gets it only when she returns the security deposit.

[terrence81]

Originally Posted by Syadnan

Right before I saw the ac difference, she said to me that she barely kept her ac on for the July because it wasnt as hot as June. Since when was July NOT hot??? It was one of the hottest months EVERRR. I dont think she watched the news or the weather. I even told her that her that the house would get too cold cause the ac is on all the time.

July not as hot as June???? Yes we had two heatwaves in June the hottest being right on my birthday when it hit 104 or 105. However, overall June was not as hot as July. There were some nice pleasant days in between the heatwaves. July was brutally hot day in day out. Virginia had the hottest July on record June being hotter than July is beyond false.

[snowdenscold]

Tell her she is an idiot.

Two reasons:

One, a lot of people's bills went up between June and July. Heck, my kWh went from 1839 to 2628 ! That's a 43% increase.

Two, your leaving lights on would be a negligible amount of the overall bill. Let's say you left 8 lightbulbs on (6 kitchen, 2 garage), and they were all 100W bulbs (!), and you left them on a total of 30 wasted hours each.

8 bulbs * 100W/bulb * 30 hours * 1kW /1000W * $0.11/kWh = 8 * 100 * 30 * .11 / 1000 = $2.64.



Dimensional analysis FTW. Landlady FTL.