Rental.. 8 months of utilites at once, mold in my destroyed bathroom, should I get a discount?

July 8, 2007 8:56 PM

For the past 8 months my landlord has neglected to give us the utilities. He finally just gave them to me because I'm moving out. Total is $1500. Other issues include my torn apart bathroom complete with black mold. Should I get a discount on the utilities?

For the past 8 months my landlord has neglected to give us the utilities. He finally just gave them to me because I'm moving out. Total is $1500.

4 months ago, my bathroom (one of 3.5) in the house was torn apart because the shower was leaking. Like completely gutted. Black mold was found underneath it. It's still there (after 4 months).

I'm forced to use a roommates bathroom that is inside(attached) to his room. For middle of the night pissing, I have to go down a flight of stairs to the half bath. Yeah, that blows. I can't take showers whenever I need to anymore. I can't take showers with my girlfriend cause that'd just be awkward.

My normal rent (with a working bathroom and no mold) was $700. I feel like I should get quite a heavy discount for two reasons:
1) Getting your utilities after 8 months? Why should I be stuck with a huge bill just because the landlord is too lazy to do 5 mins of dividing?
2) My bathroom is GONE! and there's black mold in it! It's literally 4 ft from my bedroom door.

So, what do you think? Should I get a discount on utilities for a lazy landlord?

I live in California.. if there's any laws for the mold/ unannounced construction.

posted by gradient to work & money (14 comments total)

That's nearly $200 a month in utilities. California may be expensive, but here in Florida I don't pay more than $150 a month for electricity, water, and sewer on a 4 bedroom 2 bath house. Unless "utilities" also include cable, phone and other things, I think nearly $200 a month as a utility charge is ludicrous. You should at least ask for itemization, and documentation.

As for the bathroom/mold issue, I think you may have the moral high ground, but continuing to live in such circumstances, without documenting in writing your demands for repairs will probably put you in a weaker position in terms of negotiation at this point. Your lease is the basic governing instrument, but if you accepted those conditions, without canceling your lease for failure to repair, your basic remedy as a renter (that you be allowed to terminate your lease early, and move to better conditions) went unused. Good luck trying to get a rent rebate now.
posted by paulsc at 9:07 PM on July 8, 2007

I agree with Paulsc that is sounds as if there is something amiss on those utilities (the amount being so high) HOWEVER your point 1. does not hold water. Just because your landlord was lazy and slow in getting you your numbers you KNEW they would be coming and should have planned accordingly. His slowness is not a get out of jail free card for you.

The mold? A whole nother ball of wax! You should have been complaining for about 3 months now and maybe even withholding rent (through an escrow account) or fixing it yourself and deducting the cost for your rent for the last 2. Weigh your options with regards to your last months rent, security deposit, and general ethical concerns and figure out what you want to do.

Good luck!
posted by crewshell at 9:17 PM on July 8, 2007

If your damage deposit is half your rent, it would be $350. Start negotiations from there. Hell, why not just walk away? It's not like they're going to call a collection agency.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:26 PM on July 8, 2007

I'm sure someone else will suggest this just after I hit the preview button, but you owe it to yourself to get in touch with a renters' rights organization. If you don't know of one yourself, a law school will be able to put you in touch with one. Or a quick google search.
posted by soviet sleepover at 9:27 PM on July 8, 2007

Ah man I hate it when the internet is right sometimes!

You guys are spot on, I should have made a big deal out of the mold when it happened.

As for the utilities, I will definitely be getting an itemized list.
posted by gradient at 9:31 PM on July 8, 2007

Write a letter saying the utilities are too high and will cause you hardship to pay in one hit, due to the landlord's sloppiness.
Offer to pay over longer term (say, $50 a month) and ask for a detailed itemisation.
Offer that the landlord may keep your bond as an alternative, on the understanding that this will then settle the matter.
Send the letter registered delivery.
The mould is neither here nor there, except to doubly annoy you, and bringing it up just clouds the issue.
posted by bystander at 10:53 PM on July 8, 2007

You're probably out of luck; unless they make you specific promises in the lease, landlords' obligations to keep your place nice (as opposed to merely livable) are not especially stringent. Check out this page for starters. It says "Sonoma County" but it cites relevant CA state law.

As to the utilities, definitely get an accounting because nearly 200/mo for ONE person sounds excessive. However, assuming that amount is legit and you raise a stink about the lump-sum aspect, the landlord will probably argue that, even though he wasn't billing periodically, you KNEW you owed utilities (you did, right?) and you could've planned ahead and put money aside. Just playing devil's advocate here; I know it sucks.

Hell, why not just walk away? It's not like they're going to call a collection agency.

Oh hey, that's great advice, I'm sure no landlord would make any effort to collect a debt $1200 in excess of the retained deposit. I bet he'll just say "oh dang, should've kept a bigger deposit, my bad!" You should definitely at least stake your credit rating on the assumption that he'll do that.
posted by rkent at 5:05 AM on July 9, 2007

i'm a little unclear as to why your landlord is getting the utility bills, but you have to pay them. typically, either you sign up for the service and pay the bills, or the landlord pays the bill, and increases the rent to cover the cost of rent. as rkent notes above, $200 per month is a lot for an apartment. not getting the bill to you in a timely manner also means that you couldn't take steps to reduce the cost.

to present you for a bill of $1500 when you leave is pretty outrageous. i assume you knew they were going to charge you for utilities? did you ask for them monthly? or did you remain silent while they built up? if you constantly reminded them that you need to see the bill, then i'd say walk. when renting an apartment, you either pay the utilities as part of the rent, or you have your own account with the utility company.
posted by lester at 6:44 AM on July 9, 2007

Just wanted to add in here - you definitely should have been complaining about the mold from the day it was found. That's a serious health issue right there. I would think you had a couple options with respect to that mold, as far as threatening to/actually reporting him to a health inspector (or building inspector? who actually deals with such things?). Not sure whether or not that will help you with your outstanding utility bill though.

Definitely try to find a renter's rights association. Does your lease say that the utility bills are to be delivered to you monthly? If so, it would seem like that $1500 is effectively a one-month bill. Ok, I"m just getting weasly now, but who knows? Might work :)
posted by antifuse at 8:09 AM on July 9, 2007

If you are moving out I would suggest just walking away (not paying). If the landlord could not get it together to get the bill to you he will most likely not get it together to itemize the bill in a useful way or to take you to court.

It may not be the ethical thing to do, but the landlord sounds like they have not been doing you any favors either...
posted by crhanson at 8:39 AM on July 9, 2007

It's not like they're going to call a collection in my eagency.

Collection agency is unlikely because small claims court is the usual remedy for landlords.
posted by anadem at 8:40 AM on July 9, 2007

Geez- I would fight about those utilities.
"Had I KNOWN my electricity was so outrageous I may have changed the type of bulbs I was using/cut the heat etc."
It seems shady that he gets the bills too.
posted by beccaj at 11:27 AM on July 9, 2007

Don't just get itemized bills, get copies of the bills.

The landlord is required to maintain a certain standard of living in your apartment. The bathroom is included in your lease, so you should be compensated for the loss of use.
posted by electroboy at 7:44 AM on July 10, 2007

Also, they may use a collection agency. My old landlord did.
posted by electroboy at 7:44 AM on July 10, 2007