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We recently moved out of a rented townhouse in northern Virginia. The LL is insisting that we keep the utilities in our name for either two months or until she rents it out. Everyone we have spoken to says this sounds suspicious. We've tried to tell her that we're not comfortable having them in our names, but she is threatening to take us to court if we cut the power and it damages the appliances (fridge/freezer). We are not in the area anymore, what can we do?
Hell no, I wouldn't do that. I'd call the utility companies and tell them your name should be off the account and the owner's name back on, and let them know your new address for your final bill. She needs to have them in her name until the place is rented out again. What would she sue you for, as long as you paid your final bill?
Definitely a scam or plain ignorance. Certainly not upheld by law. As said, call the utility company immediately and have the power disconnected. They may not put it back in the LL's name without the LL directly contacting them so let the LL know when you've done it. The power being off will in no way damage the refrigerator/freezer. Nonsense!
ROFLMAO. Tell the LL to go ahead and sue. You moved and are no longer responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of anything. The LL is responsible until she gets it rented. Pure and simple.
Call the utility and have the utilities taken out of your name. The utility will either turn the power off or contact the LL for continued service. In any case, none of that is your problem.
I don't automatically agree with everyone else here on this one without more information.
My question is: Did you break the lease early?
If you did, then she probably does have the right to require you to keep the utilities on in your name.
However, if you gave proper notice at the end of a lease term, or if you were month to month, then I totally agree with everyone else. Notify her that utilities are being taken out of your name effective immediately, and if she doesn't want frozen pipes, she should have them turned on in her own name right away. Then do that.
I don't automatically agree with everyone else here on this one without more information.
My question is: Did you break the lease early?
If you did, then she probably does have the right to require you to keep the utilities on in your name.
However, if you gave proper notice at the end of a lease term, or if you were month to month, then I totally agree with everyone else. Notify her that utilities are being taken out of your name effective immediately, and if she doesn't want frozen pipes, she should have them turned on in her own name right away. Then do that.
What does leaving early have to do with leaving utilities on?
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)
Definitely a scam or plain ignorance. Certainly not upheld by law. As said, call the utility company immediately and have the power disconnected. They may not put it back in the LL's name without the LL directly contacting them so let the LL know when you've done it. The power being off will in no way damage the refrigerator/freezer. Nonsense!
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.
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.
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.
Where the shutting off of the power is concerned I did say in my post that the OP should let the LL know as soon as he/she contacts the utility company. Thereafter it's up to the LL to do any refrigerator door-propping-open routine.
As long as nothing has been left to rot in a 'fridge the little stale smell evident after any prolonged power outage is easily taken care of with a wash-out of baking soda and water. No mechanical damage results from power being shut off. That is unless you live where I do where you have to put every darned appliance on a surge protector since our outages and surges are quite frequent ...
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