Can I be forced to put other tenants utilities in my name?

Question

I am new to the west coast and new to my building.  I have searched the ends of the internet but can't seem to find an answer to my question, so I come to you.

I am recently moved to a duplex.  The lower tenant and I share the same mailbox, same meter.  She has been here for two years and the utilities are in her name (I am to pay 50%).  I have found out that she is breaking her lease and moving out, which means the building utilities would have to go under my name.  I am not comfortable with this, it seems like this isn't even legal.  I don't want the new tenant (a stranger) to be responsible for keeping me in good credit.  I have been here for two months and haven't gotten any info in what my share of utilities should be in this time, in the past I had to threaten to take my own roommate to court for months to get a $450 phone bill she wracked up taken care of.

This reeks of problems, legal and otherwise.  Is this legal?  If there is one meter for the building, shouldn't the landlord have to put it in his name and have us compensate him?

Like I said I have searched for an answer to this.  I only can find that this is illegal in CT.  I live in OR.

Any advice?
Thanks!

Brian Levredge · Answer

I should have mentioned your best bet is to contact the Fair Housing Council/Admin office in the city you live in.  They will be able to tell you about something like that pretty quickly.

Account Closed · Answer

Steph, here's what you do:

It's never a good idea to fight with your landlord. That's a "no win" for the tenant. So write him a very polite letter suggesting that he put the utilities into his own name, and then you will pay your half. Or suggest that he put the utilities into his name temporarily until he gets a new tenant downstairs and can put the utilities into their name.

Remind him that your deal was that the utilities would be in the name of the downstairs tenant, not in your name.

You want important issues and any request to the landlord to be in writing.

I have 2 points for you to consider. You knew about this arrangement when you moved in.  It's kind of late to complain about it now. So hope the landlord sees your point.

I think it is a dumb arangement, and I would have never agreed to it, which means I would have never moved into that unit to begin with. What if the other tenant is an energy hog? You end up paying half of a huge bill that you didn't run up by yourself. You might seriously consider moving to a place with a more reasonable rental agreement.

Jon Holdman · Answer

Yes.  You have to pay the whole bill and collect the other half from the neighbor.  In my kids case, he had to collect from both his roomates and the neighbor.  Just say no.

Virginia Hilton · Answer

If the utilities are in the neighbors name and you pay your half and they fail to pay their half will the utilies be shut off even though you paid your half?

Andy Bell · Answer

Consider all the legal procedures and I guess there should not be any problem with that.

Jon Holdman · Answer

Landlord - Tenant Law in Oregon is the document.  Not sure it really implies a specific answer to your question, though.

Here's their contact info:

Service Area:
Office Location:
Contact:

Oregon and Southwest Washington
1020 SW TAYLOR, #700, PORTLAND OR 97205
information@FHCO.org | 503/223-8295 | Hotline 800/424-3247

Give them a call.

Jon Holdman · Answer

My son got into a rental situation like this.  He ended up stuck with $800 in utilities.  Like Brian says, tell the landlord to put it in their name and you'll pay half.

Brian Levredge · Answer

To update, I googled "Fair Housing Oregon"  and it takes you right to the Council's website.  They have a search bar at the top of the site and if you type in "tenant paid utilities" it will pull up a PDF doc that addresses your questions.  Specifically look at questions 28-30.  I think you are off the hook unless the law has changed.

Steph K · Answer

That is definately what I plan on doing.  I am just really hoping for a bit of legal backing just in case I get any grief (which I am expecting).  I can't imagine why he would think this is a good idea.  Old school guy, I even have to get a money order for rent.

Jon Holdman · Answer

What does your lease say about utilities?

Can I be forced to put other tenants utilities in my name?

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