Tenant not paying gas

[Devang Patel]

My New Jersey lease strictly states the tenant would be responsible for paying the gas.  They have not paid the gas bill for months and I am wondering if this can be grounds for eviction.  They are however paying the monthly rent (late mostly every month)

[Marcia Maynard]

If you have a legal rental agreement with clear terms, signed by all parties, then enforce the terms of the rental agreement swiftly and consistently. Know the landlord-tenant laws for your jurisdiction. Of course a tenant can be evicted for non-payment of rent, but they can be evicted for failure to abide by other terms of the rental agreement too.

How have you approached their late payment of rent? Have you served them with legal notices to comply? Or have you been lax in addressing this issue? The reason I mention this is because you are in essence training your tenant by how you respond when they do not follow the terms of the rental agreement which they have signed.

We too require tenants to pay for certain utilities and to have those utilities in their names. If a tenant doesn't pay rent, I send them a Rent Past Due letter (see BP File Place-Other Documents where I uploaded ours as an example), I charge the late fee (according to our rental agreement), and I post legal notice to Pay Rent or Quit if necessary. I also check to see if the utility bills are being paid. Often it goes hand-in-hand that if a tenant gets behind in paying rent, they will get behind in paying their utility bills. If they are not paying their utility bills, I send them a Compliance letter where I explain what it is I need them to do and I post a legal Notice to Comply if necessary.

It's important for tenants to abide by all of the terms of your rental agreement. Do not let it slide. 

It's important that all utility bills are paid in a timely manner. If utilities are not paid, it could lead to the utilities being shut off, which could result in some bad consequences for you. Such as: freezing pipes in the winter, overheating in the summer, tenant actions that endanger your property (such as cooking with BBQs indoors, using candles for light, use of extension cords from one dwelling to another and overloading of electrical circuits), humidity build up, garbage overflow and vermin that follow that, etc. Some utilities can become a lien on the property. Some utilities are required by local law to be provided at all times when a building is occupied. Some utility companies will charge a reconnect fee if the utility is shut off for non-payment.

Natural gas may be connected to the furnace, hot water heater, cooking range, or even a clothes dryer. Without this utility the tenant may resort to other means to get their daily living needs met. Yes, I would be concerned. Yes, I would take swift action. Since you know their natural gas bill is not being paid, better check to see if they are behind in their other utilities as well. First, do what you can to bring them into compliance. Eviction should be a last resort.

Good luck.