Landlord says I must pay for heating to keep water pipes from freezing

[jjohnson0910]

Hi,

My landlord is trying to tell me that I need to pay the heat (electric baseboards) for the basement that has the water pipes for mine as well as the other apartments from freezing. He is saying this because we are privately using part of the basement for our laundry and storage. Our electric bill is more than our rent because of this. The basement is very ineffienct for helping heat in along with the upstairs. What should I do or can I do anything about this?

Thank you.

 

[mightymoose]

Is it reasonable to split that cost with the other tenants?
This sounds like a problem that the landlord needs to address by means of adjusting the rent for everyone.
Personally, I don't think you need to do anything more than let your faucet drip to prevent freezing.
The pipes going to the other units are not your responsibility.

 

[jjohnson0910]

That is what I thought but he is insisting that it is my issue. He even came over here to make sure the baseboards were on in the basement to heat the pipes, so I think that he knows it it wrong but is doing nothing about it. He also told me that our apartment can get a little expensive but 600 is more than a little expensive...It is more to heat our 3 bedroom apartment than it is to heat some of my families' houses that are multiple levels.