Tenant would not pay prepaid propane gas without receipt

[Christine You]

Hello:

  I am a first time landlord and running into a issue with tenant refused to pay propane gas that came with the sale of the house.

I bought the house and it comes with 2 100 gallon propane gas for heating. the Propane gas company wouldn't provide me receipt for those two tanks full of gas since i did not purchase from them directly.( the seller paid for it). The seller is an investment company did not provide the receipt neither. Now, my new tenant is using up the gas without paying for it and demand for a receipt after i told her it comes with the sale of the house. How can i get her to pay for it? i can not even get her evicted for not paying it. any suggestions, comments? thank you all.

[Colleen F.]

What did you tell the tenant on move in? was the agreement that the tanks are full now and need to be full on leaving?  If they don't top them off on leaving you can charge them then. Your other option to recoup some cost would be to shut off and lock one tank, then they have to fill the other tank when empty to continue to use.  

The propane company may not give you a receipt but they should be able to verify they are full. We always did first tank on us and then the tenant had to start their own account and fill on leaving. It was in the lease. 

[Christine You]

Thank you Colleen.

I told the tenant to pay the 2 full tanks and she does not have to top it off upon leaving. Now she does not want to pay because i don't have receipt. 

I called the propane company and was told if i cancelled my account, they will take the tanks(BOTH) back and i will not get credit for unused fuel in it. 

I will type up an addendum of lease agreement and put everything in writing. The tenant either pay me the 2 tanks of gas or top them off when leaving. i Just don't know what to do if she refuse to sign the addendum. I am ready to go to court and file a landlord and tenant complaint. But without receipt, what are my odds? 

[Colleen F.]

Ok so you rent the tanks and it is what 500-1000$ in propane?  I am guessing you heat by propane and not sure your location but could be cold so no propane = frozen pipes. So the best way to handle this in the future is a fuel deposit of x dollars if the account is in your name. if they drain the tank without refill you deduct from that deposit. 

But now you are in a lease so see where she is coming from. What is her  issue?  no money? not believing they are full?  doesn't want to pay upfront?

If she just doesn't have the money now and is willing to top off on leaving and sign the addendum to say she will top off on leaving and provide a receipt or be charged you are good.

If the tenant is thinking they aren't full have the propane company verify they are  full by topping off Or preferably giving you the date of last fill in writing (they should be able to do this). You can have her sign the addendum and charge her for 200 gallons at rate you pay to top off the tank or another rate you agree on.  

The thing is if the account is in your name and you are handling propane as a pass thru if she  pays every time she fills and that will equal her use but it will be after use so you run a risk with that. (In your lease it should say something like that this charge become additional rent depending on the state you are in. 

If she won't sign and it is in the lease that she pays for propane then you could just tell the propane company not to fill on you (put it on will call) and have her set her own account up by x dates. You are losing the cost of the gas in the tank anyway so it goes to the tenant or the propane company. However if you are in a freezing area you need to keep rechecking that she set up the account.  And this is the worst option. 

Check with a lawyer but I doubt it is worth it if you can go to court on just this point. And alot depends on if you have that she pays propane in the lease.