I moved into a new apartment in late February, but then I was gone from 3/13 to 6/21 out of the country. I live in Phoenix where it gets very hot, so before leaving I turned off the AC. I also unplugged everything, emptied and unplugged the refrigerator and stove, etc., and the water heater. Pretty much nothing should have been drawing electricity.
My landlord then came into my apartment a few days after I left to paint over some damage left by the previous tenant since she had "forgotten" to fix it before I moved in. While she was there she turned on the AC to 63 (which she has admitted to now) and never turned it off.
My bills have been $334.8, $391.65 and $401.27 for the three months I was gone. This is for electric alone. According to the utility company, the average bill over the last 5 years for those 3 months is $107.88, $115.48 and $121.14. So obviously these three bills are MUCH higher than they normally are for those months, when it should have been much lower since I was not even there.
I confronted the landlord about the fact that my AC was 63 when I came back, and she admitted that she turned it down and forgot about it.
In addition, I had programmed the thermostat to be turned off from 7 to 4 every week day since I'm at work during that time. She came during those hours and so when she tried to turn on the AC it still didn't kick in because of the programming, so she turned off the programming to get it turned on. So my apartment has been cooled to 63 for 3 months straight with no break. The AC unit is very old and inefficient so it is no wonder the bills are so high.
I can't afford $1100 in bills for electric when I was not even there. Can my landlord be held responsible for any of it?
Submitted July 10, 2015 at 02:58AM by highbillsphoenix http://ift.tt/1LUK7mY legaladvice
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