Is My Landlord Scamming Me?

[Liz Faber]

Hello,

I leased a bedroom in my landlord’s home in San Francisco about three months ago. My roommate and I signed a six month lease that is done on December 1, 2018, and we share the single room. The lease includes an itemized list of utilities including Water/Sewage, PG&E and Wifi. Primarily, I am concerned about the utilities my landlord asks me to pay. I have not seen the original invoices for any of the utilities, and the bill is very high, so I’d like to see the invoices. I’d like to know that I’m not being taken advantage of. I’ve asked to see the original utilities bills twice, once by text message, and again through a printed letter that I placed where I knew she’d find it. The first time I asked she responded that she would see if she could order the statements, but threatened to charge me with a late fee, even though there is nothing in the lease regarding late fees for utilities. The second time I got no response, but she retaliated by accusing me of calling PG&E, and attempting to access her personal account. She stated this was identify theft, however, I’ve done none of what she accused me of. She also accused me of going through her personal files to find her full name, even though it appears on her Venmo account, where I pay the monthly lease payment and the utility payments. She’s also accused me of other things in the past, such as taking things out of her trash and being in parts of the house I’m not permitted in.

My main questions are as follows: (1) does the landlord have to provide invoices when requested, and (2) if I choose not to pay them until I see the invoices, is the landlord empowered to charge me with late fees when nothing regarding that is on the lease document.

Thanks for any help you all can provide.