My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Utah
Hello Friends,
I recently moved into an apartment in November of 2014 in Salt Lake City. I have a 1 bedroom, approx. 600 Sq. Feet.
The lease states that all utilities be paid by the tenant. Ok. Whatever. For the first few months, they fail to itemize my utility bills (As they are all paid through the administration with the exception of electricity) and just tell me an amount that my utilities (trash, sewer, water, gas, service fee) total to and I just add it to my rent check each month. I really didn't think anything of it until I started asking why it was so freaking high. I asked the receptionist for a broken-down bill: water - $3.50, sewer - $8.00, trash $8.00, service fee - $8.00, gas -$42.00..... WHAT?!
$42.00 for 1 person?? I work 6 days a week (rarely home), I shower once per day (water-heater), I NEVER have my heater on and my stove is electric. So why in the world is my gas $42.00 a month?!
I called in to the office and asked, and the lady told me that it was because my 1 bedroom apartment had a meter that was being shared with 9. 3-bedroom apartments, each with a minimum of 4 people each! The really strange part is that this shared meter trickery is only in the 3-bedrooms/1-bedroom buildings, NOT the 2-bedroom buildings--Which to me is extremely counter-intuitive. It seems as if I, as single occupant, am being punished for living alone, whereas the families of 5-6 are being rewarded for having a large family. It's bad enough I don't get any tax breaks for being a hard-working single, non-parent citizen...and these families are getting thousands of dollars back just for having children...
Now I understand that this shared meter thing is common, but I most definitely would NOT have rented here were I aware of this provision. I re-read my lease 3 times, and saw no section where it says ANYTHING about shared utilities. Nor did the leasing agent say anything about it either.
So my question is:
In the state of Utah, are they legally obligated to inform a potential tenant that their gas meter is going to be shared with other units in the same building?
Hello Friends,
I recently moved into an apartment in November of 2014 in Salt Lake City. I have a 1 bedroom, approx. 600 Sq. Feet.
The lease states that all utilities be paid by the tenant. Ok. Whatever. For the first few months, they fail to itemize my utility bills (As they are all paid through the administration with the exception of electricity) and just tell me an amount that my utilities (trash, sewer, water, gas, service fee) total to and I just add it to my rent check each month. I really didn't think anything of it until I started asking why it was so freaking high. I asked the receptionist for a broken-down bill: water - $3.50, sewer - $8.00, trash $8.00, service fee - $8.00, gas -$42.00..... WHAT?!
$42.00 for 1 person?? I work 6 days a week (rarely home), I shower once per day (water-heater), I NEVER have my heater on and my stove is electric. So why in the world is my gas $42.00 a month?!
I called in to the office and asked, and the lady told me that it was because my 1 bedroom apartment had a meter that was being shared with 9. 3-bedroom apartments, each with a minimum of 4 people each! The really strange part is that this shared meter trickery is only in the 3-bedrooms/1-bedroom buildings, NOT the 2-bedroom buildings--Which to me is extremely counter-intuitive. It seems as if I, as single occupant, am being punished for living alone, whereas the families of 5-6 are being rewarded for having a large family. It's bad enough I don't get any tax breaks for being a hard-working single, non-parent citizen...and these families are getting thousands of dollars back just for having children...
Now I understand that this shared meter thing is common, but I most definitely would NOT have rented here were I aware of this provision. I re-read my lease 3 times, and saw no section where it says ANYTHING about shared utilities. Nor did the leasing agent say anything about it either.
So my question is:
In the state of Utah, are they legally obligated to inform a potential tenant that their gas meter is going to be shared with other units in the same building?
Rent and Utilities: Failure of Disclosure of Shared Metering
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