autimaton t1_izyntqm wrote on December 12, 2022 at 8:37 PM

If you convert the account to your name the balance will follow you. I would check the language in the lease as it relates to utilities. It sounds like the place might not be properly zoned as a multi-unit complex and therefore has just one electric meter, and if that is the case, you taking over would make you responsible for any balance unpaid by the other residents. I wouldn’t do it if I were you.

Leviathant t1_izyxt6f wrote on December 12, 2022 at 9:41 PM

> I would check the language in the lease as it relates to utilities.

Exactly this! This is what legal documents are for. A nice, black and white definition that you can point to and say, "we both agreed to these terms." The reality is, if the landlord gets squirrely, you may be in a situation where you either batten down the hatches and engage in a protracted legal battle, or you determine that it's not worth the effort, and you go somewhere else. I once sublet from someone who, it turned out, was not supposed to be subletting. I'd seen some fishy nonsense with another tenant who was moving out as I was moving in, so I changed the lock on my bedroom door (very, very easy to DIY), which proved to be a prescient move. But before you even do that - read the lease.

thatboul1000 OP t1_j00aaro wrote on December 13, 2022 at 3:33 AM

Regarding utilities: Lessee shall be responsible for arranging for and paying for all utility services required on the premises. The Tenant shall pay all utility bills as they become due. The Tenant shall apply to the necessary utility companies for the above services, provide all necessary deposits required from those companies and be fully responsible for all utility payments from the date of move-in until the date of move. out. In the event the Tenant shall vacate the premises without advising the utility companies of the date of moving from the premises, the Tenant shall continue to be responsible for all utility bills until the accounts are terminated by the utility companies. In the event the Tenant fails to pay any utility bills will results in termination of services, it shall be the Tenants full responsibility to pay all reconnection fees.

Leviathant t1_j00cl1u wrote on December 13, 2022 at 3:51 AM

Well, this is a little bit tricky because this is written as though you, upon renting, would take ownership of utilities. However, you can probably assume that everyone else who's signed a lease has the same agreement.

I guess the main thing is: You don't take over someone else's debt, full stop. If your landlord wants utilities to be in your name, they should draw up a new agreement that puts down, in black and white, how utilities are split among the other tenants, and I would even argue that having to take on the responsibility of managing the utilities for the other tenants should be worth a reduction in your rent. That may be pushing it, but hey.

My advice would be: speak sensibly and reasonably, agree to pay your share of what you've used so far, but draw up a new agreement, because the current one doesn't reflect the proposed usage.