Q-I live in a six-unit apartment building in Chicago. I pay for the gas, electricity and hot water for the apartment. While I have not had my heat on since late March, and I have the hot water heater on a low setting, my gas bills seem extremely high. I have spoken to other tenants in the building, and while the sizes of their families and their utility usage vary, we all pay about the same gas bills.
One tenant even had his meter changed, but his bill did not decrease. I have called the gas company, but they have told me that I’m just billed for what I use and I have to pay for it.
Is there some provision that requires the landlord to maintain the equipment in good condition in the building so that our bills are reasonable?
A-The landlord must keep the building’s equipment in good working order to comply with Chicago’s building code and the city’s Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance, provided that your building is governed by the ordinance. And your six-flat falls under the ordinance if the landlord doesn’t live there.
Also, because you are responsible for paying your own utility bills, your landlord was required, at the commencement of your lease, to give you information concerning the cost of the utilities for your apartment for the previous year. This information could have come to you through the gas company.
If you received the information as required under the ordinance, you probably should have been aware, before you rented the apartment, of how high your gas bill would be.
Because other tenants appear to be paying roughly equal gas bills despite variances in usage, you probably should check into the gas connections at your building.
The fact that the gas company says you only pay for your actual gas usage only means you are being billed for gas that runs through the meter. Some of it may be heading to places other than your apartment.
The first step you should take is to contact the gas company and ask for an inspection of the connections. If the gas company is unwilling to check the connections, you probably should contact the city’s Department of Inspectional Services.
Finally, if neither the utility nor the city will check out the connections, you may have to hire a heating contractor to do the job. Because you will have to pay for this service, and because others in the building may be having the same problem, you may be able to split the cost for the service visit.
If illegal connections are discovered, you probably should contact an attorney, because the process of recovering the overpayment of utility bills from your landlord can be tricky.
Lease-breaker’s deposit
Q-When I moved into my apartment, I gave my landlord a $350 security deposit. I subsequently was relocated and had to move eight months later. I realize that I forfeited my security deposit. There were some carpet stains in the apartment and now that landlord is billing me $145 for repairs to the carpet.
I have asked the landlord to deduct the damage from the security deposit, but he said he can’t do that. I don’t know why not.
A-Your landlord can deduct the damages from the deposit if there is anything to deduct it from. A security deposit can be used to pay for damages to an apartment or can be credited against unpaid rent.
When you vacated your apartment after eight months, you assumed that your only penalty was the loss of your security deposit. Unless there was an agreement to the contrary, the landlord is entitled to collect rent from you until such time as he re-rents your apartment.
You also are responsible for reimbursing him for the costs of re-renting your apartment, including advertising, cleaning and decorating.
Your landlord might not be willing to deduct the carpet repair costs from your security deposit because it was exhausted by unpaid rent and charges related to re-renting.
You should ask him for an accounting of how your deposit was spent. If there is money remaining, the repairs can be deducted from the deposit. If the deposit funds are all spent, you will have to pay for the carpet damages.
