Tenant trying to make me pay for his heat

[jnz01]

Hi. I have a rental house in rural Northeast PA and am having a problem with my tenant. He has been constantly late with the rent payment and this month he sent me an incomplete payment along with a letter saying that he needs help paying for his heat and wants me to help him. Along with the letter was an overdue notice from an oil company which I assume he wants me to pay as well. Am I legally obligated to pay for his heat? The agreement is verbal (with him paying for his own heat) and the tenant and his girlfriend are in their 50s with no children.

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

While in multifamily rentals (i.e., duplexes, quads, apartment complexes), the landlord typically pays for the heat (because it's difficult to provide separate sources of heating units for these situations), in single family homes the tenant is reponsible for paying for their heat.

If he has not sent you the complete amount of rent this month he is at risk for you beginning the eviction process on him.

Gail