The first-floor tenant's been living there for more than 20 years.
When we purchased the property 5 years ago we were told only the garage was the only electricity bill we were responsible for.
Which we didn't have any issues with this for the last five years.
Suddenly, our first tenant called the electric company to come out to dispute her electricity bill.
Now we wended up with a letter from the electric company that the foreign wiring needs to be transferred to the landlord's account.
Now what? Is this still require for me to get done or is there something we can do to make this job simpler? As a landlord, we have to pay for gas and water and the expenses is outrageous. This foreign wiring is connected to basement lights (which we don't use) and 1 porch light (front) of the house.
Investor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
5y
@Sarah Byun You do have to remove them from the tenants circuit unless you compensate for them. In some states like MA you can't even do that, you would have to pay the whole electric bill. I would just have the electrician connect them to your garage panel. It should be pretty simple although some expense. However I would talk to the tenant and let them know that while you are doing this there was no change on your end in use so they should look elsewhere for the increase electric cost.
To decrease your costs I would insulate, try to separate the gas and go to all low flow water fixtures. Removing really old toilets will decrease your costs. A toilet manufactured before 1980 uses 5-8 gallons a flush. One manufactured today can use as little as .8 gallons/flush but typically 1.2 gallons/flush