Electric Meter Swap

[Mike Hoefling]

I found out this week that the previous landlord was paying for one of the tenants electricity, maybe unintentionally because the electric meters are mixed up. The previous landlord use to live in that particular unit so it's not unusual that the meter is set up that way. Now that I own the building I don't want to be paying for my tenants electric bill, is it worth getting an electrician to come in and switch the metering? What should I expect to pay for something like that, $1000? Or do I just leave it and bump the rent some to cover the electricity bill.

Any thoughts?

Mike

[Edward Burns]

You absolutely have to involve the utility and work with an account manager there. Even if the meters were suddenly associated with the proper accounts, major changes in electric consumption for a given meter may raise a red flag at the utility (particularly if they look at bill that was $52/month and suddenly it drops to $8 and stays that way for couple months. With computer checks etc. if the accounts are not flagged beforehand, the system might begin investigations by ordering repairman to check on what is happening. By having a account manager flag the records the automatic response by the computer can be overridden in advance.