Q: Can my landlord charge me for maintenance to the electric system they were advised to perform by the electric company?
The electric company failed to process one of my automatic payments and shut off my power for nonpayment. I thought it was a power outage at first, so I called the electric company to report it. They told me everything looked fine on their end, and that my main breaker probably needed to be replaced. I passed this along to apartment management, and they called the electric company to confirm. The electric company told them the same thing: Replace the main breaker. So management replaced it. Six hours and several phone calls later, the electric company finally told us the truth. As soon as I found out my power had been disconnected, I paid the bill manually and had power restored. Now management insists I pay $178.75 for the breaker. I don't think the lease justifies their position. I didn't damage anything. It turns out nothing was wrong with the breaker. They performed unnecessary maintenance on the advice of the electric company. Can they evict me if I refuse to pay?
A: I suspect you are in the right here. They could try to evict. If you fight it they would probably lose. It's the power company that cost them $178.75. They should try to collect that from them. (of course that won't work).
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