Tenant did not pay for Gas. NGRID's reaction?

Question

A tenant whose lease ended and who has moved out did not pay for gas and I am not sure if they had at all registered it to their name as they moved in. The lease does say that they are responsible for paying for it. Gas has never been on my name as it's always been a rental unit and names on service has changed from tenant to tenant. Apparently this last tenant never bothered to switch service to his name since the gas company continued to supply him with free gas.

I am in the Boston area in Massachusetts and NGRID disconnected service for the unit. My new tenant could not be provided with gas or sign up for new service since NGRID is asking for payment...

I'm going to call NGRID but before I do so I wanted to know if ultimately I would be the one responsible for paying the previous bill or I could direct them to the tenant on the lease, which clearly says he's liable for it.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Colleen F. · Answer

I enter a shut off date for electric with the electric company online. What I find is if you do that and tell the students you are doing it the electric company I find seems to leave the electric on for a day or two between if the students don't make a turn on arrangement.  I don't know if they are supposed to or not just that it seems they do.   I have a number of times had tenants with bills unpaid at the end and the electric company will turn  on in a new name or with competition in rhode island I think they can just use another company. Here there is a service where you can opt in to having it automatically switched to the landlord if the tenant shuts off but I have not signed up for that to avoid what you are reporting here. Glad you got it sorted out.

Shaun Reilly · Answer

How long was the last tenant there?  Seems hard to believe they would not have gotten cut off a long time ago if they were not paying a bill for a year.

I have not had this issue here but I just had a similar situation with a large unpaid electric bill in another state.  Previous tenant ran up about $2K and then left (before we bought it) and we have a new person moving in and they would not turn transfer the service to them.  I believe they are worried that the tenants that owed were trying to get the service switched to a new name of a friend or kid (So they can start ruining their credit as minors) so they don't have to pay the previous bill.

I sent over about 50 pages of documentation to verify ownership and the new tenancy (This property has a multi layer entity structure ownership which is why there was so much paperwork) but once they got enough info to believe they are new users it wasn't an issue.

Marcia Maynard · Answer

Who hasn't learned the hard way what can happen if you don't double check the utility transfers at move in? We've had this happen to us as well.

If the utility can become a lien on the property, pay the bill and open the way for your new tenant to get the utility turned on in her/his name. If you can track down the previous tenant and back bill them for their utility usage do so, but you are probably out of luck unless you still have some of their security deposit.

If the utility typically does not hold the owner responsible, then discuss the matter with the utility and see if there is some room for negotiation on the matter. Waive it, reduce it? Whose name was the utility in while the previous tenant lived there? If it was in the previous tenant's name, give the utility the previous tenant's forwarding address so they can bill them. You may need to pay the bill yourself if the utility won't budge because you still have a responsibility to your newest tenant.

For the future, when a tenant moves in call the utility company together and initiate the change in name for utilities. When the tenant moves out, call the utility company again to check if there is a balance outstanding on the account. If there is, pay the bill and deduct the amount from the security deposit. Of course, make sure you have a good security deposit from the start.

Good luck!

Account Closed · Answer

Great advice about entering a shut off date @Colleen F. , I'll see if I can get that done in MA. Thanks all for the input.

Account Closed · Answer

Wanted to update this thread with the latest happenings regarding this situation:

I had the new tenant call NGRID to ask for a new account, as their lease started Sep 1st. As it turns out they were successful in doing so but there was still no gas coming through the stove. I checked the meter in the basement of the building (it's a condo) and it looked like a valve was closed. Called NGRID and explained the situation, after which they sent out a service team to resolve the situation. Problem solved.

The turnover is relatively high in the area I am invested in (college areas) and NGRID must be familiar with such issues. Although I always ask the new tenant to switch utilities to their own name, as required in the lease, it's always good to check it has been done.

Of course the tenant can always opt out and discontinue service during the lease without me knowing about it, and there is no way I would be verifying that throughout the year, but wouldn't  continued usage of the utility ultimately be the utility company's responsibility? Utilities should be shut off as soon as account is not active anymore and should not be billed by default to the unit owner after the fact.

Mike Hurney · Answer

@Nadjim K. It's been my experience that National Grid will start a new account with the new Tenant.

@Shaun Reilly I'm surprised that electric bill isn't a lien on the property.

Ann Bellamy · Answer

And you didn't check to be sure the tenant had put the service in his name?  I think you are the adult in this relationship, since you are the owner and are ultimately responsible, I believe.

Since National Grid has no contract with the tenant on the lease, I would expect them to not care that your lease states the tenant is responsible.

So whose name is it still in?  The previous tenant?  Interesting.  I know water/sewer stay with the property, and therefore the owner, but not sure about natural gas.  Good luck on this one, you may be fighting a losing battle, since the new tenant can't get gas, and that's ultimately your issue.  See what National Grid says when you call them and let us know.

Tenant did not pay for Gas. NGRID's reaction?

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