Landlord wants utility bills paid for while property vacant

[hankplaysguitar]

My wife and I handed the keys to our rental house over on 01/02/09. The unit then sat empty until 01/09/2009 when another tenant moved in. The landlord is now demanding that we pay for the utilitis (gas/water/electricity) for the days the unit was vacant and we are refusing to pay. The landlord stated that the previous tenants living there before us paid the first two weeks of utilities when we lived there. They are saying that it is only fair that we pay this in return. During our occupation of the house all of the utility bills were in the landlords name, at their request. We signed no lease and weren't required to pay a security deposit. The landlord is now threatening legal action to require us to pay these bills plus a bill for cleaning the apartment after we vacated it. Do they even have a case?

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

How much notice did you give the landlord before moving out?

Did the previous tenants pay those utilities for the first two weeks you lived there?

Gail

 

[CdwJava]

What did your lease say about utilities and payments? WAS there a lease or contract?

- Carl

 

[hankplaysguitar]

no lease signed

We never signed any kind of lease or rental agreement nor did we pay any security deposit. We gave them one month's notice that we were moving out.

 

[hankplaysguitar]

How much notice did you give the landlord before moving out?

Did the previous tenants pay those utilities for the first two weeks you lived there?

Gail

The landlords claim they paid the first two weeks, why I don't know. They may actually be right, but I dont know who they were so I couldn't find out for sure. We moved in on the first of the month and all of the bills cycle from the end of the month so I don't see how they could've paid for just two weeks.

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

Because there was no security deposit (from which your landlord could "draw" funds for damages above normal wear and tear), her option would be sue you (typically in Small Claims) for such things as cleaning the place after you vacated it.

If your landlord is angry enough to file a lawsuit (and the judgement is in her favor) then we're talking about these bills, any claims for damages plus court costs.

Seems the easiest way to end all of this is to pay for that one week of utility bills when the unit sat vacant. They can't be that much.

Gail

 

[hankplaysguitar]

normally I would just pay them but they're claiming the total is $104.00, and that seems incredibly high for for seven days of utilities. They wont even let me see the bills.

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

You certain have a right to see these bills. You are correct; they do seem quite high for just seven days.

Gail