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Our signed lease says gas and electric are included. But now 6 months after, they are telling us it was a glitch in their system and all of the other tenants pay utilities. They want us to call Coned to retroactively pay everything, otherwise our gas and electricity will be cut tomorrow. Any advice on how we should proceed is very much appreciated.
Also, I am pretty sure our sewer is back up. Our toilet is extremely foul smelling everything we or the unit above us flushes. Are these valid reasons to break the lease?
Our signed lease says gas and electric are included. But now 6 months after, they are telling us it was a glitch in their system and all of the other tenants pay utilities. They want us to call Coned to retroactively pay everything, otherwise our gas and electricity will be cut tomorrow. Any advice on how we should proceed is very much appreciated.
Also, I am pretty sure our sewer is back up. Our toilet is extremely foul smelling everything we or the unit above us flushes. Are these valid reasons to break the lease?
You need to check the laws of the state in which you live, and you need to read the lease carefully, as it will have language as to what constitutes a default by either party and would allow you to break the lease.
Our signed lease says gas and electric are included.
But now 6 months after, they are telling us it was a glitch in their system...
Any advice...
Tell them to take you to Court.
If you read through these forums LL's are regularly advised to not use leases at all.
This sort of 'glitch' could be remedied with a months notice without the lease BINDING them.
Quote:
I am pretty sure our sewer is back up. Our toilet is extremely foul smelling...
If the lease says they provide utilities, then they have to abide by the lease terms up until the lease expiration date. The only way they could change anything in the lease prior to the expiration date is IF YOU AGREE TO IT. You don't have to agree to any changes in the lease and they cannot make you move out before lease expiration unless you are breaking the lease somehow. Even then, they would have to warn you and give you notice to remedy (such as if you were late paying rent or had a pet against the lease or had a roommate and lease says only you on the lease).
Back to the utilities. If they cut them off or if they attempt to force you to pay for prior 6 months, then they would be breaking the lease. Don't pay and don't agree with landlord or utility company to pay. I think you send some kind of notice to notify landlord of the lease terms and they must abide until end of lease. Your state should provide rules for the notice to the landlord for these cases where landlord is shutting off power and/or otherwise breaking the lease. Each state can differ with rules about this.
If landlord broke the lease first, then you moving out really isn't breaking the lease, since it's already broken by landlord. But you have to follow proper steps to ensure landlord is given proper notice to resolve their lease break issue and if they don't resolve then you send required notice per state law before you can move out(due to landlord breaking lease).
Maybe discuss with a real estate attorney that specializes in landlord tenant issues. Check with the attorney ahead of time to find out their consulting fee for such advice. You would give the attorney your lease to review and the communication between you and landlord regarding utilities.
The flushing issue and, if they cutoff utilities, is what is called a habitability issue. It means these things are required asap for normal living and landlord must fix within shorter notice than other issues. But there are rules (for each state) on how you notify landlord of these issues and rules about how many hours or days landlord has to fix.
Good luck and please report back your end result.
Last edited by sware2cod; 02-01-2017 at 02:15 PM..
Our signed lease says gas and electric are included. But now 6 months after, they are telling us it was a glitch in their system and all of the other tenants pay utilities. They want us to call Coned to retroactively pay everything, otherwise our gas and electricity will be cut tomorrow. Any advice on how we should proceed is very much appreciated.
Your lease means exactly what it says, nothing more and nothing less. Once it is signed by all parties it becomes a binding contract.* Since your lease states gas and electric are included, they are included, and in fact you can take your landlord to court if they interfere with your gas or electric service.
Check with the laws in your state regarding cut-off of utilities. Your landlord may be making a very serious mistake if they cut your utilities. It depends on which state you are in to know what the penalties are. Tell us your state and maybe one of the other C-D members can tell you. Note there is a sticky topic State Landlord Tenant Laws in this section you should refer to.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chopstickies
Also, I am pretty sure our sewer is back up. Our toilet is extremely foul smelling everything we or the unit above us flushes. Are these valid reasons to break the lease?
This depends on the terms of your lease, which should state whether landlord or tenant is responsible for various issues such as this.
My own leases state that tenant is responsible for all problems except blocked sewer lines.
To wit:
Quote:
Plumbing Service: Landlord is responsible for drain repairs resulting from tree roots or collapsed sewer lines. Tenants are responsible for any plumbing line-related charges due to Tenant's neglect.
I have this clause because any idiot tenant can flush wads of toilet paper and cause a toilet to back up. The clause makes it their problem, not my problem. I'm only responsible for the main sewer lines.
Here again the laws in your state might have some relevance.
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* Note: I myself was involved in a mistake in my tenant's lease, made by my Realtor. My pet deposits are NEVER refundable, but my Realtor made the mistake of putting the pet deposit in the refundable deposits section. I didn't notice this until some months later, but once both tenants and I had signed it made the pet deposit refundable. In the end it is my final responsibility to ensure that the contract is correct and mistake free. I refunded their pet deposit when they moved out.
If the lease says they provite utilities, then they have to abide by the lease terms up until the lease expiration date. The only way they could change anything in the lease prior to the expiration date is IF YOU AGREE TO IT. You don't have to agree to any changes in the lease and they cannot make you move out before lease expiration unless you are breaking the lease somehow. Even then, they would have to warn you and give you notice to remedy (such as if you were late paying rent or had a pet against the lease or had a roommate and lease says only you on the lease).
This excellent post complements the information that I contributed to the topic.
The point is that the landlord is stuck with the current contract until its expiration date, unless you agree to change it.
I sure wouldn't agree to such a change. This is an extremely material and fundamental part of your contract. It obviously has a huge impact on your rental costs.
Another thing I didn't explore, whether you or your family have any medical conditions or are senior citizens, in which case additional protections may apply.
It's clear to me that you must act very quickly. You may have to do without utilities for some period. However, you may have legal remedies available to you particularly since without these utilities your rental will probably be uninhabitable, and you may be entitled to collect damages by being required to seek alternate accommodations (a motel) until utilities are restored.
If you read through these forums LL's are regularly advised to not use leases at all.
This sort of 'glitch' could be remedied with a months notice without the lease BINDING them.
I don't recall landlords being regularly advised to not use leases. In any case, it doesn't mean that advice is sound. I prefer multi-month (usually 12) leases even on renewals. However, my leases do not have glitches in them. If they did, perhaps the better strategy would be to not use them.
I just realized that part of your question is included only in the title:
"Can we break lease?"
Why would you want to do that??? Breaking a lease is the same thing as violating a lease or not honoring any of the requirements of a lease. You can get out of a lease (I presume in most jurisdictions) but the usual practice is that tenant may be required to pay an early termination fee, plus will be held to remaining lease terms including paying monthly rent, etc., while landlord is required to make a good faith attempt to find a replacement tenant. When such tenant is found and rental is re-rented, your lease is terminated and you are subject to the original lease terms such as regarding move-out inspection, return of refundable deposits minus any damage charges if applicable. (Your early termination fee will probably appear here.)
But I see no reason for you to want to break your lease! That's the exact opposite of what I would expect you to want. It's the landlord who would want to break the lease because of the landlord's expensive mistake.
Leases mean exactly what they say they mean, and if any parties to the lease made a mistake the mistakes do not invalidate the lease. In your case OP my opinion is that it is tough luck for the landlord to make such a serious mistake, and now landlord will have to live with it until the end of the current lease period. At that time landlord can change the terms of the lease, and can terminate your lease voluntarily if you refuse to refuse to agree to the new terms (which will require you to pay the utilities, BUT NOT PAY FOR BACK UTILITY CHARGES!).
Note that if the lease terms are changed there may be legal notice deadlines that could affect both parties. For example, it is common for leases to revert to month-to-month after the initial lease period. Both tenant and landlord are required to notify the other in advance if they intend to terminate the lease/rental at or after the conversion date. Rather than explaining all the variables I'll just say be careful. Any change in the lease should be negotiated sufficiently in advance to avoid such problems.
My mistake with the pet deposit cost me $400, but I recognized that it was my mistake, that there was nothing I could do about it, so I refunded the $400 and even with a smile. After all it was my bad, not the tenant's fault. I'm a good loser.
If the lease says they provide utilities, then they have to abide by the lease terms up until the lease expiration date. The only way they could change anything in the lease prior to the expiration date is IF YOU AGREE TO IT. You don't have to agree to any changes in the lease and they cannot make you move out before lease expiration unless you are breaking the lease somehow. Even then, they would have to warn you and give you notice to remedy (such as if you were late paying rent or had a pet against the lease or had a roommate and lease says only you on the lease).
Back to the utilities. If they cut them off or if they attempt to force you to pay for prior 6 months, then they would be breaking the lease. Don't pay and don't agree with landlord or utility company to pay. I think you send some kind of notice to notify landlord of the lease terms and they must abide until end of lease. Your state should provide rules for the notice to the landlord for these cases where landlord is shutting off power and/or otherwise breaking the lease. Each state can differ with rules about this.
Thanks for the advice! New York City property companies are notoriously unscrupulous. I read through the lease multiple times before we signed. The property manager even denied that there was a smell in the bathroom for four months, until I contacted the super directly. When he came to check it out, he couldn't believe the stench.
I'm hoping they break the lease first, because I'm paying way too much to have them harass me and force me to harass them for routine maintenance fixes.
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