Electrical upgrade took 2 years to complete (renter, legal, paying, property)

[Caryn14]

I'm a renter and had an electrical upgrade done 2 years ago. I continued to pay whatever DWP bills that came, but recently received a "past due bill for $900" because the new meter was never reconnected. I took this bill to my rental company and they are trying to get the electricians to pay the past due balance. Legally, I feel it should be paid for by both of the parties who never completed the job (rental property and electricians). What legal recourse do I have?

[suzy_q2010]

Originally Posted by Caryn14

I'm a renter and had an electrical upgrade done 2 years ago. I continued to pay whatever DWP bills that came, but recently received a "past due bill for $900" because the new meter was never reconnected. I took this bill to my rental company and they are trying to get the electricians to pay the past due balance. Legally, I feel it should be paid for by both of the parties who never completed the job (rental property and electricians). What legal recourse do I have?

If you got a bill, how was it calculated?

Usually, if they are unable to read a meter they will estimate based on past usage, but the bill should indicate that it is being estimated. If that happens, you need to find out why the estimate was being done. I had that happen to me (I am in Georgia), but it took me three months to figure out what was going on --- because the online version of the bill did not tell me it was estimated. The meter was hooked up, but it was defective. I got a refund because I was able to show that I had actively been trying to decrease power usage.

If the bill was estimated, you should have been paying about what you were paying previously. You need to know where the additional $38 per month came from. Is it possible your power use was actually higher? Have rates increased? DWP has some responsibility, too. They should have figured out why they were having to estimate your bill when it happened the first time. If the meter is now working, you can compare the next three months to the same three months of last year. See if there is a significant difference. You should not have to pay for more than you used, but you should have to pay for what you did use.

[texdav]

Thatwould have to be determined by a court if yoyu can;t get it settled. They will likely look at aost histroy of use to make a determination.The bad thin g is wirth teh elctric company you are the billed customer and ist not their fault that the meter was nt hookup. They should explain the bases for the amounttho.

[ferretkona]

Originally Posted by texdav

Thatwould have to be determined by a court if yoyu can;t get it settled. They will likely look at aost histroy of use to make a determination.The bad thin g is wirth teh elctric company you are the billed customer and ist not their fault that the meter was nt hookup. They should explain the bases for the amounttho.

Dude, you need to use the spell checker.