Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

If a tenant vacates a property leaving unpaid utility/trash bills, is the landlord ultimately responsible for payment of those outstanding charges?


Asked on 11/28/11, 10:20 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Trash, yes. Garbage collection responsibility attaches to the property, and you can even have your property liened for unpaid fees. That's why I always build the garbage costs into my rents and pay it myself. Utilities are not the landlord's responsibility, but I find the utility companies frequently try to hold you up for the unpaid charges if you try to put the service in your name. They are not actually allowed to do that, but they can make you jump through some hoops to establish that you are not, in fact, just the dead beat tenant trying to get service restored using someone else's name.

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Answered on 11/28/11, 10:53 am


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