tenants not paying electric bills

[hmaloney]

hi

i was wondering if anyone could help?

a friend of mine rented their apartment out to a couple. they lived there for around 3 years, the contract was for 11 months each time and then at the end of those 11 months a new 11 month contract was put together.

at one point during their stay my friend lowered the rent for them so a new 6 month contract was drawn up from feb 2009-sept 2009. after that period the tenants started paying the full rent again. however from sept 2009 - feb 2010 no new contract was drawn up and the tenants left in feb 2010, giving my friend 1 month´s notice.

now these tenants have not paid the electric bill from jan 2010-feb 2010 (it may also be from dec 2009 too) so they owe her money for the electric bill. she has asked them for the money but they have not contacted her and she has not new address for them.

legally does she have any rights in terms of getting the money back? and if so how can she do this?

i wasn’t sure as they did not have a contract showing that they lived there, however there is a concierge in the building and neighbours who will confirm they lived there and email messages from my friend and the tenants.

thanks in advance for any advice.

[Enrique]

Hi hmaloney,
You'll have to wait for David for the legal answer

Is it worth chasing 2-3 months electric bill for someone you don't have a contact address for

[katy]

I agree with Enrique whatever the legal answer is. We had two properties we rented out. The tenant of one stopped paying the rent, we let the water get cut off and were ordered by the court to re-instate it. Did us a favour really as we decided to sell them at the top of the market

[julian]

everything happens for a reason Katy !

[DavidSearl]

FROM DAVID SEARL

FOR HMALONEY

If you have a contract with your tenant which states the tenant pays the electric bill, and the tenant does not pay it, you have the legal right to go to court with your lawyer and the court will order the tenant to pay what he owes, plus your legal costs.

The fact that you cannot locate your ex-tenant may work against you. You have not mentioned what you did with the deposit the tenant left.

Good luck with it, David Searl