Tenants using utilities in my name, racked up a very large bill

Submitted by Anxious-Winter4039 t3_yeiw0n in personalfinance

Hi all,

For some context I had lived in a rented house (in NY) for a year. After that year and my lease was up I moved out and into a new place.

Recently I received a $4.7k bill from the utility company. I tried calling and sent multiple letters to the utility company telling them that I was not living there during that time period and attached a copy of the lease for the place I was staying during that time. The utility company did nothing to look into it and sent it to collections which is now hurting my credit score. I also got in touch with the management company of the property and they completely shut me out.

So basically the tenants that were living in the house the year after I moved out had racked up a massive utility bill in my name.

I'm honestly not sure what action I can take from here, it doesn't feel right to pay this debt that isn't mine.

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Comments

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emptyhellebore t1_ityb99y wrote

It doesn’t matter if you were living there or not, it is your responsibility to cancel all of your utilities when you move out.

9

lilfunky1 t1_itybhhl wrote

You didn't close your account at the old house?

16

InteriorAttack t1_itybige wrote

> I tried calling and sent multiple letters to the utility company telling them that I was not living there during that time period and attached a copy of the lease for the place I was staying during that time

that's doesn't matter if your name was on the utility bill. sorry.

> So basically the tenants that were living in the house the year after I moved out had racked up a massive utility bill in my name.

you should have taken your name off the bill when you moved out. if they are in your name they are your responsibility

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_fire_away t1_itycuf4 wrote

Replying to Anxious-Winter4039 (#252,848)

What do you mean by transfer? Like called up the utility company and have the account transferred to their name and yours removed? Or did you just give them access to the account under your name?

Regardless, the account should have been closed, and your roommate could have open a new one. This can all be done within the same business day.

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Economy_Seat_9414 t1_itycxhx wrote

Have you tried reaching to the new tenants? Could be an honest mistake, maybe you could get them to pay. I remember when I was younger I moved to a new place. For some reason I thought gas was included in the rent. For a few months I used it without any issue so I never realized it actually wasn't. One day the manager came with a huge bill that I needed to pay. I explained and apologized, called the gas company to put it in my name and paid the manager back. I mean, you could give it a try.. Otherwise it seems like you are stuck with the bill

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_fire_away t1_itye5lb wrote

Replying to Anxious-Winter4039 (#252,999)

Bummer. Only other thing I can think of is if you received some sort of confirmation of the transfer.

As for the collections, you can ask them to validate the debt. They must give proof that your debt is valid and belongs to you. The proof may give insight on the state of the utility account, like if its just your name and SSN or if it also includes your roommate. If the collection’s can’t provide valid proof, then they can’t legally collect. You can tell them to kick rocks. From there, you can contact the credit agencies to remove the invalid collection mark on the report.

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No_Tension_280 t1_ityhad4 wrote

Did the new tenants lease say that they needed to have the elect in their name? There is someone on charge of utilities. Like a regulatory agency. Hammer the utility harder. What does it mean that you transferred the account to the roommate. Like he was responsible, or just paying in your absence. I think they can write it off, you just have to be persistent. Get letter from landlord that you weren't living there then. Could you get the names of the tenants from other utility records? Ask your congressman for assistance?

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