My GF recently moved out of her place in Manassas this past weekend. Her landlord is saying she needs to pay the full month of utilities. she left on the 10th of december, shouldnt the utilities be pro-rated?

Also, the house does not have HEAT now, something happend to the furnace. Isnt that enough of a reason for 'constructive eviction' which would release her from having to pay utilities?

Your thoughts please

Thanks

I'd say your GF needs to go with whatever her lease agreement says.

If there is no signed lease agreement binding her to pay a full month, then maybe you can get away with just giving them a prorated amount. However you need to figure out where the proration is for each utility. What I mean by this is electricity may have a 15th to 15th billing period, in which case she'd owe most of the month. If the landlord just charges her once a month for utilities, then when she gets the bill for it enclose a letter stating there is no lease agreement clause obligating her to pay a full month's utilities and you will assume proration is proper. Include in the note how you calculated the prorated amount and enclose a check for that.

Of course, if there is a security deposit then the landlord may just withhold whatever he/she thinks the GF owes. The key will be the lease agreement. One delaying tactic she can use is to ask the landlord to please provide a copy of the signed lease agreement with a note stating which part of the agreement is justifying the full month's payment.

As for constructive eviction, if she has already left without asking the tenant to fix things then that isn't going to be a remedy that will likely work. From http://real-estate-law.freeadvice.com/landlord_tenant/constructive_eviction.htm :


"To claim constructive eviction, thereby relieving the tenant from the obligation to pay rent to the landlord, the tenant must serve the landlord with written notice of the constructive eviction and provide the landlord with a reasonable amount of time to cure the defects. If the landlord does not correct the defects within a reasonable amount of time, the tenant may then be able to leave the rental property and not be responsible for payment of rent which would have been due under the lease or rental agreement. In most cases, the tenant must physically move out of the property and then sue for damages, termination of the lease, etc."



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/11/2006 06:32PM by pgens.

You mean after 3 pages of shit about "Visitor Parking", the bitch moved out?

Well, I guess that's one way to solve the parking problem! LOL

Lol, well she moved out because there is no heat and this just happend last week. Which is stupid beacuse its the middle of winter.

And second she just started working from home and there internet is down as of last week just like the no heat.

There was no signed lease agreement. The deposit was the amount of rent, so we just left the landlord with the deposit since there was nothing wrong

I'm a property manager, I would say if there is no written agreement, and the deposit is well documented (Check) not cash she should be just fine. Let him try to take her to court over it, I doubt he will. If he calls too much, call the cops and have it documented that he is harassing her. hmm what else, she could create a notice to vacate, have it notarized and certified by mail, that would show she gave him good notice to look for a new renter.

what kind of ghetto slum lord property was she leaving in that didnt have a rent agreement or lease? was she the roomate of someone who signed a lease but she contributed to the deposit? Was she living in those rundown shitty places in FX over on cedar avenue or Oak street? sheesh

ferfux Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> what kind of ghetto slum lord property was she
> leaving in that didnt have a rent agreement or
> lease? was she the roomate of someone who signed a
> lease but she contributed to the deposit? Was she
> living in those rundown shitty places in FX over
> on cedar avenue or Oak street? sheesh


it is a highschool friend of hers. the dude never wrote anything on paper, she never signed anything. it was all he say she say with a few emails in between. thinkn of tellin the guy to shove it cuz they are proly spikin the utility bills right now

Resident Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My GF recently moved out of her place in Manassas
> this past weekend. Her landlord is saying she
> needs to pay the full month of utilities. she left
> on the 10th of december, shouldnt the utilities be
> pro-rated?
>
> Also, the house does not have HEAT now, something
> happend to the furnace. Isnt that enough of a
> reason for 'constructive eviction' which would
> release her from having to pay utilities?
>
> Your thoughts please
>
> Thanks


I don't know, but given the fact the heater isn't working, sounds like the utility bill couldn't be that much to begin with. Kind of silly to have a snit about it.

Fairfax MF---er Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Resident Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > My GF recently moved out of her place in
> Manassas
> > this past weekend. Her landlord is saying she
> > needs to pay the full month of utilities. she
> left
> > on the 10th of december, shouldnt the utilities
> be
> > pro-rated?
> >
> > Also, the house does not have HEAT now,
> something
> > happend to the furnace. Isnt that enough of a
> > reason for 'constructive eviction' which would
> > release her from having to pay utilities?
> >
> > Your thoughts please
> >
> > Thanks
>
>
> I don't know, but given the fact the heater isn't
> working, sounds like the utility bill couldn't be
> that much to begin with. Kind of silly to have a
> snit about it.

Not necessarily, one month my gas bill almost doubled for no apparent reason. Turned out that the heat exchanger in my furnace had cracked and most of the heat was going up the flue. The damned thing was running almost non-stop.

With all the above said information. The dude renting the room is now charging 75 less than what was charging her. So do you think still responsible for the entire month of utilities

What he charges someone at one time and some other at another isn't really relevant even though your girlfriend may feel slighted. Just pay a prorated amount given there is no written agreement stating any other arrangement and be done with it.

in the future, I wouldn't rent anywhere that doesn't have you sign a lease agreement.

However, without the lease agreement, I'd say she is responsible for prorated utilities from last date of billing till whenever she moved out.

Rabbit Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> in the future, I wouldn't rent anywhere that
> doesn't have you sign a lease agreement.
>
> However, without the lease agreement, I'd say she
> is responsible for prorated utilities from last
> date of billing till whenever she moved out.


Agreed. We offered to pay the pro-rated and the owner wanted full so it looks like the owner is getting nothing now cuz they cant get their way?? We are fine with paying what we used

Why don't you just send him a check for the prorated amount? Why are you prolonging this? If he cashes the check then he's accepting the amount. If he refuses the check THEN walk away but I really think she needs to take action to pay what she feels she fairly owes.

This is something I would normally go see my uncle about. Then a couple days later, I find out the matter has been taken care of. I don't know exactly how the matter was resolved, but my uncle pats me on the back, asks me if I need any money, and that's the end of it.

Give me your gf's phone number, and I'll see if my uncle can do anything for her.

Resident,
   you and your girlfriend sound like a heap of stupid. if the heat does out, have it fixed. if you need a parking space, rent a parking space.

neither of you should have kids... you are just too stupid for the job.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Gravis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Resident,
>    you and your girlfriend sound
> like a heap of stupid. if the heat does out, have
> it fixed. if you need a parking space, rent a
> parking space.
>
> neither of you should have kids... you are just
> too stupid for the job.


Gravis,
Now think about what you said boy. You tell the renters to fix the heat? Okay you are genius. Let the monthly renter, repair a 8 thousand dollar appliance.. Now whos 'too stupid'?? You think you're too cool for school but I got a newsflash for you, Walter Cronkite. You aren't. Fat boy

Resident Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Gravis,
> Now think about what you said boy. You tell the
> renters to fix the heat?

who said anything about fixing it yourself? i said "have it fixed" which implies having someone else fix it. if the landlord refuses fix it, hire someone to do so and pass on the bill to the landlord. though, repairing it personally isnt a completely insane idea anyway. just because something is expensive doesnt mean it's magical and can only be fixed by a wizard. cars are expensive but it doesnt take a genius to replace parts on it. the internet is a resource of information, not just forums and porn, thus the lame name "information superhighway."

however, i was not aware you were renting from month-to-month because yes, i hadnt read the entire thread. normally, meaning always, people have a lease so this ad hoc renting is bizarre. in consideration of such a renting style this may in fact be the better choice. my bad.

i stand by the fact that you shouldnt reproduce... but perhaps your girlfriend isnt a lost cause. just wondering, what kind of job does she have that has her only working from home and requires an internet connection?


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Gravis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Resident Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Gravis,
> > Now think about what you said boy. You tell the
> > renters to fix the heat?
>
> who said anything about fixing it yourself? i
> said "have it fixed" which implies having someone
> else fix it. if the landlord refuses fix it, hire
> someone to do so and pass on the bill to the
> landlord. though, repairing it personally isnt a
> completely insane idea anyway. just because
> something is expensive doesnt mean it's magical
> and can only be fixed by a wizard. cars are
> expensive but it doesnt take a genius to replace
> parts on it. the internet is a resource of
> information, not just forums and porn, thus the
> lame name "information superhighway."
>
> however, i was not aware you were renting from
> month-to-month because yes, i hadnt read the
> entire thread. normally, meaning always, people
> have a lease so this ad hoc renting is bizarre.
> in consideration of such a renting style this may
> in fact be the better choice. my bad.
>
> i stand by the fact that you shouldnt reproduce...
> but perhaps your girlfriend isnt a lost cause.
> just wondering, what kind of job does she have
> that has her only working from home and requires
> an internet connection?

Gravis it is obvious you still live at home at the age of loser. Riddle me this..Why the hell would the renter even ATTEMPT to try to fix somebodys house. Let alone, attempt to fix something that was appraised at 8 thousand dollars. youre a fucking idiot stop just trying

Resident,

Drop it, you have a bunch of posts here from people who have tried to help you... don't get drawn into an argument with Gravis and clutter the thread. I'm looking forward to the end result so we can all move on.

pgens Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Resident,
>
> Drop it, you have a bunch of posts here from
> people who have tried to help you... don't get
> drawn into an argument with Gravis and clutter the
> thread. I'm looking forward to the end result so
> we can all move on.

Pgens,

Thank you for your concern. I am just going to send the pro-rated amount if we do not receiev the bill by the mid-term of January. It seems all communication has been ceased between the parties. But it is felt as a moral obligation to pay what was indeed used. Thanks all for support.

.