Q: Who is responsible for this utility bill?
had utilities in my name for a rental property my daughter was living in for 2 years. Her lease ended last may and she has since moved. When she moved i called utility companys and had things switched out of my name. My issue is that the city bill (water, sewer, garbage etc) had apparently not been taken out of my name. The bills had always come out automatically and i did not notice until the beginning of this month that i had still been paying the $140ish a month for previous 9 months. I contacted city hall ( live in a very small town) and they had no record of me calling end of last april but told me to bring in a copy of my daughter's lease. She does not have it anymore. I then contacted the owner of the house she had rented ( has been vacant since due to landlord remodeling and trying to sell). When i asked him for a copy to give to the city he stated that he would not give me a copy because " he doesnt want to get involvednd" and that he is in no way responsible for that $1400
A: You would need to speak with an attorney about your specific situation and if there is an exception in your specific situation. In general, if the utilities continue to be in your name, you are responsible for the utilities, even if another family member is the person actually using the utilities. Even if you are found responsible for the utilities and have to pay such, you may still have a cause of action against the family member to ask them to pay you back for their utility use that you had to pay for. This could potentially include a small claims court action against the family member asking for them to be ordered to pay you back.
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