Ok, if you found out you had a tenant stealing electricity, by hooking up their own meter to the meter box - would you bother reporting it? Or just let it go?
The tenant does NOT know that I know this.
I am not a tattle tale type of person, by any means, but I don’t want to get hit with a meter tampering bill in the future because the guys move out or get caught down the road.
Is this the same one that wants to sell you the $200 , 42" LCD TV?
Nope, a different person
You own the home. You could be liable!
I start this by saying that I do not have tenants, but if you KNOW he is stealing electricity you have an obligation to report him… If it is on your property, this might open you up legally for theft of services, especially if it is found out that you knew and did nothing about it…
I would let him know this is what you found and he has X number of days to remedy the situation, otherwise you will have to report him… You gave him the courtesy of making it right because you are not a tattle-tale type, what he does after that falls on him…
If you think about it, how is this illegal activity any different than any other, like keeping stolen items on your property? Both illegal… and you do not want to be considered to be an accessory in any way…
I went ahead & reported them to the electric company this morning. Basically the customer service rep said I didn’t have anything to worry about since I was the landlord, and NOT the tenant, and I reported it. So that’s good.
This happens to me on a regular basis since I deal with Junker property in low income areas and I do nothing about it.
The electric companies know that you are not personally legally responsible for your tenants crimes. You are not a babysitter. If they break the law and use drugs in your house you will not go to jail for them. There is no way a landlord can watch over every single thing that a tenant does.
One thing to worry about is it they SELL drugs out of your house. When the police execute a no knock raid they have this “tank” they use. They drive up attach a hook to the front of your house and they yank the whole front of yor house off. They then run in and arrest everybody in the house. You are left with no tenants and a house with no front. Your insurance won’t pay for it and the police won’t put it back.
If I were you I would evict them you don’t want tenants like that living in your property.
“”“When the police execute a no knock raid they have this “tank” they use. They drive up attach a hook to the front of your house and they yank the whole front of yor house off. “””
I have had that happen too but not that way. Here they break it in with one of those door banger things. You then have a broken door jam and no tenants. I’ve seen that tank thing on cops. That’s quite a bit excessive. They won’t get away with that crap for long. Landlords will sue the hell out of them until that stops. They may think that they can just do whatever they wish to private law abiding citizens property without recourse but I can assure you that unnecessary action like that will not go unpaid for long.
Around here, you can steal meters and change them out with yours and get free electricity until they catch you. Happens all the time to me, power company calls and has me fax over a lease so they can straighten out the bill. Then the deadbeats can’t afford it and go lay on a sob story to red cross until they cut them a check.
Sure with we had open season on these people.
What I would be worried about, since it is unlikely that your theiving tenant is a licensed electrician, would be the house burning down in an electrical fire, and then, of course, the insurance company wouldn’t pay because an illegal modification had been made by an unlicensed electrician.
I’ve seen wiring done by tenants— holy cow. Not in my building, thank you very much.
I agree that turning in the tenant was the right thing to do. I’d get rid of the thieving scum before they burn your house down or steal all the copper out of your house.
On the issue of drugs, when I find out a tenant is doing drugs, I kick them out. I usually give them one chance to leave IMMEDIATELY voluntarily. If they won’t leave immediately, I call the police and the drug task force; call Section 8 if applicable to attempt to have their Section 8 cancelled; and give them the appropriate notice that their lease is being terminated.
Mike
That is so funny. I have seen that on tv. Always wondered what happens after the cops leave. Do neighbors scavenge the place?
PropertyManager, when you do find yourself calling section 8, the police, etc… do you then find your rental trashed? If not, how do you avoid this???