Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I previously posted a thread about an illegally detached garage regarding my rental agreement. But I am only concerned with the utilities at this point. I have not been able to find a direct answer to my question, so hopefully someone can help.
I'm in the second month of my lease. After signing the lease, we were made aware that this house has a detached garage rental (illegal) that is going to be rented in a month or two (landlord told us this). We also found out from the utility companies that everything is on a shared meter. Our LL did not disclose this and only acknowledged this when we confronted him. We have provided him solutions such as increasing our rent and having the utilities put in his name, but he is not working with us. He want's 3 times the amount of utilities we actually use. We have no accurate baseline of our utility costs because utilities have been used in the garage rental since we moved in. I don't want to give in to an agreement because I am the victim in this situation.
My question is, what is the legality of this situation? The utilities are in my name. Can I legally deduct the utility usage from my rent? Am I forced to abide by his proposed agreement? Nothing is in writing as we never agreed on a solution. If he doesn't agree to our proposed solution, where do I go from here? I'd prefer this be handled outside of small claims court because I don't have the time to deal with it. Everything I read states that a LL must disclose shared utilities between 2 or more units. What is his punishment, if any, for not disclosing this info?
If you weren't aware that the utilities in this garage/rental unit were included in your billing and nothing in your lease mentioned it then in essence the landlord is breaching the lease for this non-disclosure. If the garage so far hasn't been occupied then you have plenty of evidence of your power usage. Do you have anything in writing where the LL has offered you a "deal" of paying approximately 3X your usage in higher rent for putting the utilities in his name? I would get that if you can, one way or another.
Does he have a CO for this converted garage to be used as living/rental quarters? You can always check that in the local records and, if he doesn't, you can report him. I think you can do that anonymously. That at least would delay anyone moving into the unit.
If your LL isn't agreeable to a fair compromise where the utilities are concerned you can break your lease and move with 30 days notice (or whatever your state law mandates on a month to month agreement) on the grounds that the LL willfully withheld from you that your utilities also included the garage, i.e. breached the lease agreement. This would seem to be your better option. I believe in your other thread there was also some problem with this garage unit being only accessible through your driveway? That's going to be another problem when tenants move into this space.
I don't know how much you love this place or what your local alternatives would be but, if your LL isn't going to budge and be reasonable, it seems as though the remainder of your tenancy is going to be difficult.
It would seem you are in the driver's seat... all depends on what you want to do.
A teacher I once had would say the only rights you have are the ones you are willing to exercise...
If it were me... I just might be ticked off enough to switch off the circuit breakers as I saw fit... again, not advice... just saying what I might do.
Not sure the owner would get much traction trying to force you to pay for another's undisclosed utilities.
Is ratio utility billing (RUBS) an option in California? It's one solution to dividing utility costs on shared meters. The calculation is made based on square footage and number of occupants in each unit. The assumption is that the util's are in the landlords name, though, not a tenant's.
I re-read it twice, but maybe I missed it somewhere .... Is the LL renting the garage out as an apartment, where someone will actually live or is he renting it out to someone to use as a storage unit?
I re-read it twice, but maybe I missed it somewhere .... Is the LL renting the garage out as an apartment, where someone will actually live or is he renting it out to someone to use as a storage unit?
It gets a little confusing when a poster starts a new thread relating to a previously posted subject but here's the other thread which explains the situation:
I previously posted a thread about an illegally detached garage regarding my rental agreement. But I am only concerned with the utilities at this point. I have not been able to find a direct answer to my question, so hopefully someone can help.
I'm in the second month of my lease. After signing the lease, we were made aware that this house has a detached garage rental (illegal) that is going to be rented in a month or two (landlord told us this). We also found out from the utility companies that everything is on a shared meter. Our LL did not disclose this and only acknowledged this when we confronted him. We have provided him solutions such as increasing our rent and having the utilities put in his name, but he is not working with us. He want's 3 times the amount of utilities we actually use. We have no accurate baseline of our utility costs because utilities have been used in the garage rental since we moved in. I don't want to give in to an agreement because I am the victim in this situation.
My question is, what is the legality of this situation? The utilities are in my name. Can I legally deduct the utility usage from my rent? Am I forced to abide by his proposed agreement? Nothing is in writing as we never agreed on a solution. If he doesn't agree to our proposed solution, where do I go from here? I'd prefer this be handled outside of small claims court because I don't have the time to deal with it. Everything I read states that a LL must disclose shared utilities between 2 or more units. What is his punishment, if any, for not disclosing this info?
Your trump card is to call the utilities or the town and to report an illegal apartment if needed you can leverage that to get this corrected. If your landlord will not cooperate you may have to do this. You should prepared to find new housing soon after. Have you talked to the other tenants? Perhaps you can work out an agreement with them as well.
Where are the breakers?
Your trump card is to call the utilities or the town and to report an illegal apartment if needed you can leverage that to get this corrected. If your landlord will not cooperate you may have to do this. You should prepared to find new housing soon after. Have you talked to the other tenants? Perhaps you can work out an agreement with them as well.
Where are the breakers?
You may want to read the previous thread which I inked as all this has been mentioned there. There are no other tenants in the converted garage yet but, as the OP said here, the LL has advised that it will be occupied "in a month or two".
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
