Thank you. A few days ago, tenants mentioned they would be turning off electricity. They made some outlandish claims such as that the refrigerator was connected with an extension cord (which ended up being false) so therefore they couldn't use it, they were using coolers. They claimed that there is something wrong with the wiring in the house because lights dim when tankless water heater is on (my husband checked and lights dim for less than a second). We were trying to find a mutual time to enter the home with a heating and gas plumber to install new heaters (because they indicated that the pellet stove was not enough to warm up the whole house and they did not want to use the baseboard heaters) and they threatened to call the police if we went into their home without their permission (I am still learning about tenant/landlord laws and I did not want to risk anything by entering without a 24 hour notice). It is not that easy to find a contractor that is available at any time. Finally, with a 24 hour notice to enter we met with tenant husband and were able to enter the house. They have so many different electrical appliances--from counter top dishwashers, to a glass blower type of machinery, electric coolers, air purifiers, and other type of plug-in heaters. We offered to get new refrigerator installed (because they disconnected the refrigerator and were using coolers). They refused. We offered to get new heating in, they refused. Stated they did not want anything done while they are living there. They did admitted that the baseboard heaters are what ran up the electricity and that they have no experience with baseboard heaters. They have been monitoring the kilowatt usage and have noticed that they are not using as much electricity since turning baseboards off. We also bought them a plug in heater to keep them from being cold. After this, she sent a letter demanding that we pay the full amount of electricity and that they would be staying in the rental till lease ends 2/28/21. Today, she sent a text that they have turned off electricity and that we should change electricity to our name if we do not want our pipes to freeze. We called electric company and this is confirmed (she has been telling us so many lies so I wasn't sure what to believe). I did not change electricity to my name. We were trying to get an electrician to come out, but now he indicated that he cannot inspect it without the electricity being on. She mentioned that she would love to see us in court...What is my next step? I did post a Seven-Day Notice of NonCompliance With Rental Agreement. The lease clearly states that failing to maintain utilities is a cause to terminate tenancy. When we went in yesterday, we noticed that they are blocking the living room door with a bed, since they are actually using the bedroom as storage. They are also blocking windows because they are storing most of their stuff in the house since they were not able to find a storage unit in our town. That is also noncompliant with the lease.
