Tenant is not paying utility bills

[Braden Hobbs]

Hey all,

We have a property in Greeley, CO and found out the tenant has not paid their utilities for the past 3 months and gas will be shut off today if they don't pay at least half of the bill today.

This is our first experience with this so I'm wondering what the best path to take is? 

I'm not sure if we should use the security deposit to pay the bills for them, because then after they leave we have no cash to deal with what they leave? Should we pay the fees ourselves and add the cost onto what they owe us plus a fee (and how do you even do this)? In our lease, we say "Tenants shall be responsible for arranging for and paying for all utility services required on the Premises", but we never explicitly say which utilities are "required". We also say we will charge a 25% fee for any notice of non-payment, but I'm not sure how we even go about doing this? Plus, I'd rather get rent still and if we add a bunch of fees I don't think we will.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

[Kim Meredith Hampton]

@Braden Hobbs You can not pay the utilities from their security deposit. If they can not pay their utilities, they may need to move out, that is when you could make charges against their deposit. If they dont pay at the first of April, then serve a three day notice (or whatever notice is required in CO).

I would call and talk with them so that you are at least aware of what is coming down the pike.