Tenant failed to change service into his name - now delinquent

[Paul D.]

This is in Idaho.

My tenant moved in a few months ago and has been paying rent on time. Our rental agreement specifies that he is responsible for trash/sewer utility bills. When I noticed I was still receiving bills for the trash and sewer service in my name (the service is provided by the city), I kindly reminded him to change the service into his name and take care of the bill. He said he "thought that he took care of it" and that he would fix it as soon as he had a moment.

A few weeks later, when I received another bill, I emailed him again to remind him to change the service into his name.

Fast-forward about a month and I have received a notice from the city that the account has a delinquent balance that has been referred to a collection agency. I talked to my tenant about this and he says that he lost his job a while back and is working on catching up.

I know, I should have verified that service was in tenant's name before signing off on the lease, and I will be more careful about that next time. But what should I do now? Pay the delinquent balance as well as the current bill (both of which are in my name) and ask him to repay me once he has the funds? The city needs to hear it form the tenant before it switches service into the tenant's name.

Thanks in advance!

[Matt B.]

@Christian Bors, the OP said the tenant lost their job. Statistically speaking, the chances of any tenant catching up are slim to none. In order for the tenant to catch up, they would have to make well more then what they were making before they lost their job in order to pay what was past due and what is currently due. Not to mention the negligence on the tenants behalf for A) not actually switching the utilities like they were supposed to originally B) lying to the OP by claiming they thought they did it already but will do it again and C) not informing the OP that they lost their job in a timely manner. In my rental agreement, the tenant is required to notify me for any changes in their life that may result in them no longer being qualified to rent my property (i.e. loss of income). This situation is something that would result in me losing trust with my tenant and I would no longer want to work with them. A tenant is a business partner in the RE world, your business would be no where if you didn’t have them. I chose to not have people who lie to me and show no responsibility like that be my business partners. Think about it, would you rent to someone who lied to you on the application? I assume no, so then why would you want them in your property if they lie to you after they are already there?