NYC. what happens if you can not afford to pay the utilities bills because basement tenants are not paying rent.

we have a 2 story house + basement. everyone has moved out except the basement tenants. can i simply tell them that it is there responsibility to pay there own utilities now? what happens if i really cannot afford to pay the utilities(on account of no rent) and utility company shuts off power? i know that i cannot shut the power off to get them out of there legally, but, if con Edison shuts off the power due to lack of payment i wont be legally in trouble, correct?

Sure you'll be in legal trouble if you've been providing utilities, what are you thinking? You should be focusing on evicting the nonpaying tenants. If your own situation is so thin you can't pay utilities while you do that, perhaps you're in the wrong business. Gentrifying takes deep pockets to weather situations like this. 

i don't understand how i will be in legal trouble if i cannot afford to pay the utilities. the company will simply shut it off, and then they will be forced to leave.

as i understand it you can only get in legal trouble if you request that it be turned, as opposed to it being shut off do to lack of payment.

Have they been good paying tenants for years? I mean reach out to them, please explain the situation and see what they say.  Its always best to settle things with tenants in person if you can, before things get complicated for no reason

they are basement tenants. and they have not paid rent in 3 months and have many people living there who should not be. but i tried the civilized approach as you mentioned and they don't seam to care. but if the power is shut off in 2 months, due to lack of payment, then they will have to move out, and i wont get into legal trouble, i don't think, as long is i do not physically request it to be turned off?

Please start the eviction process asap, I don't know 100% but I'm going to assume that you are responsible to electricity.

evicting basement tenants will cost so much I'm better off trying to pay them off. and even if i am responsible i will simply tell them that from now on they are responsible for paying it, and if they don't like it they can leave, and if they don't want to make there payments that there problem they will just have no utilities due to un paid bills.

I honestly would stop negotiating with these tenants, this is New York there are plenty of people you can rent to

Do they have month to month lease?

Originally posted by @Joe Bell :

i don't understand how i will be in legal trouble if i cannot afford to pay the utilities. the company will simply shut it off, and then they will be forced to leave.

as i understand it you can only get in legal trouble if you request that it be turned, as opposed to it being shut off do to lack of payment.

If you're responsible for utilities, you're responsible. Don't pay and they'll put a lien on the property. I've been on the lien sale docket just for some confusion over a water bill. Put yourself in the position of the authorities, they have no idea if you're really broke, and don't really care. If this was legal everyone looking to clear a building would simply have the building in an LLC with no funds.

they are basement tenants which you cannot not rent in nyc.

It is time for you to learn the laws of your state. My guess is that you know nothing about tenant/landlord rights in your state. You are operating a business and have legal responsibilities. 

If the utilities are in your name and the power is shut off you can bet your tenants will take you to court. If the utilities are not in their name you can not simply require that they start paying the bills. You and they have a lease, written or verbal, and it is legally binding.

Before you get yourself into hot water you had better begin the eviction process or your costs are going to climb exponentially. Ignoring problems does not make them go away when you are totally ignorant of the law.

You are facing major financial and legal problems under your responsibilities as a landlord. If you do not want to take proper legal paths to resolve your problems your only option will be to sell the property before you lose it. 

They most likely will not pursue legal action but are taking advantage of the fact that you won't either because of 'COA issues'. It's unfortunate but you have to play dirty.