Landlord Question and Answer Forum

Hi We have a situation where we have a tenant that moved out early in the month (her lease expired at the end of the month) and terminate the utilities to the home then. We only found out when we called the power company (PECO) to inform them of the impending move out and they told us that she has already terminated the account. The tenant has NOT informed us that she has done this. Fortunately, we had the foresight a few years ago to establish a Landlord arrangement with PECO to automatically switch it over to our account between leases. If not, the house could have suffered quite a bit of damage from burst pipes (it has a hot water baseboard heat throughout the house) since we had a very very cold period last week. What we believe was that since the property is still under lease by the tenant, she is still responsible for maintaining utilities to the premises (which she obviously did not) and making sure it is in good condition. Any advice or input will be appreciated. Warmest regards David Lee

If the tenant's lease expired and they moved out, they are not responsible for paying the utility. If they left a little earlier, it would have been considerate to let you know. If there is proof of the damage I would send a bill or fight for money to cover damages.

Posted by Bea S, SD on Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Thanks - we caught it on time and there was no damage.

Posted by Lee Naeg E, PA on Tuesday, March 28, 2017