Unknowingly paying for communal utilities FOREIGN LOAD (apartment, agreement, disclosure)

[ashlynnewman1]

Hello, thank you for your time. I am renting a garage apartment and discovered that I have been paying for the electricity used in the common areas (laundry room and outside plugs). The laundry room has an outside light that is on from dusk to dawn. The laundry machines are coin operated, so I have been paying $1.75 for each load, plus the energy costs. I can only assume that the outside plugs are used for multiple things, but I have seen my neighbors boat plugged into and charging from an outlet that I pay for. I am pretty well versed with all of my rights. I am unsure about how much to ask to be compensated for.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by ashlynnewman1

I am renting a garage apartment...

with it's own meter and your own bill each month from the power co?

I am unsure about how much to ask to be compensated for.

If the answer to the above question is no... then you do nothing.
If the answer is yes... then contact the POWER CO for an assessment.

With that objective 3rd party information you approach the LL about an accommodation...
until he installs a meter for the common use areas.

[ShaneSA]

Ask the electric utility you have to give you a breakdown of expected costs for each appliance and/or light. The least they will have is a wattae cost. That way you can calculate the costs.

[Ultrarunner]

This is why disclosure is so important because it protects all parties from entering an agreement with unknowns.

If should be easy to cap the amount because you have a monthly bill each month for total usage.

Sometimes, the simple approach is as a percentage and other times it can be a number arrived at by lengthy calculation.

My first item of business is what are you doing now? Are you still paying for common areas and if so... .why?

The simple solution would be for the Landlord to assume the cost going forward or install a separate meter and circuits at some expense.

The situations I know of became quite involved because it had been going on for decades and the dollar amount of "Theft" was significant....

Can you turn off the circuits pending a resolution?

All of the above is predicated on your rental agreement not disclosing you pay for common areas.

As a side note... some dawn to dusk lights might only use 50 cents of power a month... a boat charger tends to be very little too.

Big items are those that produce heat and/or have substantial motors...

The Laundry would be my biggest concern and especially if the Dryer(s) are electric models and not gas.