JoshuaLuke
New Member
- Jurisdiction
- New Mexico
New tenants moved in November 15. They received their November and December electricity bill early in January only to find that they ran up a very high bill (over $650). Turns out they were using the baseboard heaters as a primary source of heat instead of the Pellet Stove. The baseboard heaters are supposed to supplement the Pellet Stove heater not be used by themselves. We did not know how inefficient these baseboard heaters were since we have only had one renter live in this rental and she never complained about her electric bill or heating this home. She said that her highest electric bill was about $130. Now, these new renters want us to pay $500 of the electric bill, return their security deposit and end the lease early. They have 1 month left on the lease. They claim that the house is not warming up and that the refrigerator does not stop running. When we try to go look at the refrigerator they give us the run around. We are installing new gas heaters within the next week and will go look at the refrigerator tomorrow. So question is...are we liable to pay the electric bill? What are our options. Also, on a personal level...what do you think is the fair thing to do? For them and for us?