New tenant put utilities in the wrong property address

[Bernard B.]

Good morning, 

     I just signed up a new tenant to a rental property. I clearly explained to the tenant that the utilities would come out of my name on a certain date( I gave them nine days of service in my name). I also sent a text to the tenant to remind them of the final transfer date. The tenant acknowledged the text and said that they understood that they had to put the utilities in their name, before that final date. Fast forward to the day that utilities are cut off in my name, the tenant calls me that morning and says that the utilities are turned off and that he can't take a shower. I asked him , did you transfer the utilities to your name? He said yes, but the utility company said that he put the utilities on the wrong property address , and that they wanted an additional connection fee. I expressed my empathy for him and advised him to take his paperwork to the utility company and talk to them in person. If it was a mistake on their part, they would reconnect the utilities promptly, it was a mistake on his part( like he gave the wrong address) , he may have to pay the reconnect fee. By the way , I double checked the property address on the lease and application , to make sure that I did not give out the wrong address. 

     Update, the tenant just called me back and stated that he just met with the utility company in person. They straightened out the address misunderstanding, and he said that supposedly , I told them to turn off the utilities completely that day? No, I repeated to him exactly what I told them ( take the utilities out of my name, and possibly a tenant would be putting the utilities in their name before that final date). Final solution , the tenant paid the reconnect fee, and got the utilities in his name. The tenant just wanted to vent out some frustrations.