Tenant not paying utilities

[Kameron Starr]

New to rentals as of 1/1/21. Bought property with tenant already living there. Tenant is responsible for utilities in lease but hasn’t paid utilities company yet. I just received notice that they will shut off utilities if they don’t get paid by 23rd. How should I handle this? I would like to enforce the contract and have tenant pay. However if they don’t then shutting off utilities will cause pipes to freeze and all other issues?? I don’t want to just pay the bill and make it seem like them paying utilities is optional?

[Mason Hickman]

@Kameron Starr

It’s probably worthwhile to reach out to the tenant and say something to the effect of “I just got notice from the utility company that they are planning to shut off utilities on the 23rd. In case you needed it, the utility company’s phone number is xxxxxxx and the account number is xxxxxx. Let me know if you run into any issues or need additional information.”

Also, it’s worth learning how the utility company handles bills in your area: do they follow the tenant or do they follow the house?