Post 5 Did you miss it? Hopefully not too much. Today's episode is called The University of Life...
Original posting date on the United States Real Estate Forum on Facebook:
2019-01-02T04:34:37+0000
Post 5
Did you miss me? I hope not too much?
Today's episode is called The University of Life.
I didn't go to university, I never got involved in the subject, if there's something I want to know then I just teach myself, that's me.
But still, there are things that in order to learn, have to happen to us or have someone else teach us, so when something like that happens to me and sometimes it costs you money for a mistake you made, I like to compare it to a semester at university.
A case like this was,
New tenants move into the apartment, of course after passing the screening process, two young guys, just out of college, even the parents signed as guarantors for the rent, everything is fine and dandy.
They moved into the apartment in the winter and we signed for a year and a half so that the contract would end in the summer – everything is good, I'm happy.
The lease ended and the tenants decided not to renew, moved out on time, left a little dirt beyond what was acceptable, so I charged them for how much it cost me to clear up the trash after them.
A new tenant arrives and contacts me after they move into the apartment that the electric company is unwilling to transfer the bill to their name until the $4500 open debt is closed!!!
Forget now about what needs to be done to get such an account, that's not the point.
I call the electric company, trying to find out about it, and they happily tell me that in the last year and a half there hasn't been an open account at all. The previous tenants never called to open an electric account!
Wow, great, I ask myself where their entire system is that hasn't received money for a year and a half and continues to provide electricity?!?!?!
From here to there, the landlord has no way out of this, believe me, I tried.
I paid like a good boy and we moved on.
The moral of the story is, every time the end of the contract comes, especially with tenants who have announced they are not staying, I call the electric company and ask as the landlord if the bill has been paid.
About a week or two after a new tenant moves in, I call again and ask if they opened a new account.
If I don't have it, who will? And will someone tell me that it wasn't $4500 worth an entire semester?!
You can read the comments to the post at the bottom of the page and join the discussion.
Is the person who works with a management company the one who handles all these issues of accounts, etc.?
Michael Kheled
a question:
Is it not possible/acceptable to transfer the name on the account to the tenant as is done in Israel?
Or alternatively, don't you take a sum of money as a deposit against the closing of all accounts?
A question from a beginner in the field -
Isn't it customary to take open checks, as is customary for renting in Israel?
One for water, one for property taxes, one for electricity, and one for the local municipality.
After you see that everything is in order (usually 30 days after the end of the contract), you return the checks.
Before giving tenants a key, it's a good idea to make sure that electricity and gas are in their names.
How to make sure?
Call the electric and gas company and say you are the owner and want to make sure the bill is in their name starting from...and if they don't pay, it's their problem.
Very true - this is undoubtedly an expensive seminar.
Have a smiling and electrifying day?
You saved me a semester.
Definitely important, it happened to me with just a water bill and for a lower amount, luckily... You definitely have to keep your finger on the pulse when it comes to bills...
Wow…what an important post.
Thank you Matan
Thank you for writing this for all of us! It’s important to know…
I went through the exact same thing. Eviction, the tenant received a bill for $4000 because she illegally connected to the electricity grid and stole it.
I asked the electric company why they contacted the police but didn't inform me... They said there were privacy laws.
Great… They can steal electricity, change the connections – but their privacy must be protected.
The bill was in her name. Luckily for me.