Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Massachusetts
Deadbeat Neighbors
My boyfriend and I have been living in a 2 family(sort of) house for almost 2 years now. The situation is a little complex. When we rented, the upstairs was vacant. Apparently, this is not a legal 2 family and some of the utilities (not included in the rent) are combined. The landlords rented the upstairs unit to a couple of kids that have NO money. Because we moved in first, the cable and electrical services are in my name. The upstairs people were to pay their portion of the 2 bills, but have only given me about $75.00 of the hundreds I have had to pay for them to avoid shut off. I have discussed this with the landlord, however, they are many months behind on their rent as well, which was the landlord's primary concern. Now they have mentioned eviction of the upstairs tenants, which means I may never see any money for the utilities. What recourse could I have against the landlord? I would have moved a long time ago, but we have animals and when we moved in, had done a lot of unreimbursed repairs and improvements to the place intending to stay until we could buy.
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Deadbeat Neighbors
Lease or no lease, cross-metering is a violation of the State Sanitary
Code. The landlord is responsible for paying for utilities unless
you are metered through a meter which serves only your apartment!
If you're paying cable TV bills for the upstairs neighbor, the neighbor
is stealing service and should be reported to the cable company.
You may have rights against the landlord for renting an illegal
apartment to them. (But there's a question which apartment is
the illegal one.)
Call me up and tell me what city or town you live inm
and I may be able to hand you a good referral.
Stu Williams
(617) 527-0050
Newton, MA 02459
Re: Deadbeat Neighbors
You have rights against the landlord, in general,
as well as against the neighbors. Do you have a
lease? What does it say about utilities? If you
don't have a written agreement for utilities, you
will be pleasantly surprised at your rights under
the law. But call a lawyer first.
What city / town are you in ?
If you are within an hour's drive of Boston, please
call me at (617) 527-0050, or e-mail whether or not you are
so close.
Stu Williams, Atty.
Re: Deadbeat Neighbors
The landlord is prohibited from charging you utilities unless they are separately
metered. You should call the utility company and the board of health and complain
about the billing. In the event you go to court with the landlord, you should sue for all
of the money you paid for all utilities that were not separately metered.
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