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Wedding Etiquette Forum
TurtlesAllTheWayDown
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I think my neighbor is stealing my utilities.
So the layout of my apartment is kind of weird. It has like a half basement which you access down some stairs in the back, which is divided into storage and laundry room. Well, the laundry room is on our side of the house (it's a 1 story duplex). When we first moved in I was surprised how large our gas bill was - nothing insane, just 50-100% higher than any gas bill I had ever had before. Since the laundry room is right under us and there is no separate meter, Oliver and I think that we inadvertantly pay for the laundry room utilities (gas and electric, landlord pays for all the water).
Well, my neighbor's electricity was shut off on Tuesday. (The meters are outside and we pass them on the way to the parking area.) He lost his key to the laundry room long ago (long story short, we keep it locked to keep non-authorized people out, although this neighbor still trashes it), so his GF asked Oliver to let her into the laundry room. They're now running several extension cords from the laundry room up through a window of their apartment.
Last night I was on my computer and I saw what I've always assumed is his internet router on, giving a signal. So aside from powering a light or two, I think it's powering his internet/computer (why you would decide paying for electricity is not necessary but internet is, I don't know).
I'm assuming here he won't be fixing this situation soon, since 1) they give you plenty of notice before they shut off your electricity and 2) he's developed a plan to deal with it.
WWED? Clarify with the landlord if the laundry room is hooked up to our meter? Notify the landlord of the fire hazard that is several extension cords going out a window? (Though if I feared the house burning down anytime this neighbor did something dumb, I'd live in a constant state of fear.) Wait until we get our utility bill and then confront him about it if our bill is high? FWIW, there have been 2 other occassions where we've had abnormally high electric bills, and now I'm thinking something like this might be behind it.
Well, my neighbor's electricity was shut off on Tuesday. (The meters are outside and we pass them on the way to the parking area.) He lost his key to the laundry room long ago (long story short, we keep it locked to keep non-authorized people out, although this neighbor still trashes it), so his GF asked Oliver to let her into the laundry room. They're now running several extension cords from the laundry room up through a window of their apartment.
Last night I was on my computer and I saw what I've always assumed is his internet router on, giving a signal. So aside from powering a light or two, I think it's powering his internet/computer (why you would decide paying for electricity is not necessary but internet is, I don't know).
I'm assuming here he won't be fixing this situation soon, since 1) they give you plenty of notice before they shut off your electricity and 2) he's developed a plan to deal with it.
WWED? Clarify with the landlord if the laundry room is hooked up to our meter? Notify the landlord of the fire hazard that is several extension cords going out a window? (Though if I feared the house burning down anytime this neighbor did something dumb, I'd live in a constant state of fear.) Wait until we get our utility bill and then confront him about it if our bill is high? FWIW, there have been 2 other occassions where we've had abnormally high electric bills, and now I'm thinking something like this might be behind it.
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Re: I think my neighbor is stealing my utilities.
Can you also notify your utilities company about the possibility of stolen utilities? They should be able to track where the electricity, etc. is going.
That's BS, Mery.
Books read in 2012: 21/50
Like baystate said, I would call both my landlord and the utility company or companies ASAP.
On the off chance you're not paying for these utilities (which I think you probably are) your landlord certainly is, and I doubt he'd be a fan.
I live in the basement of a house that's been turned into apartments and the furnace and hot water heater are located inside of my apartment. The furnace is gas, which we don't pay for, but I suspect we might pay for the water heater. We took cold showers all winter and I asked my property manager a thousand times if the water heater was powered by gas or electricity and he couldn't comprehend my question. But I am still pissed at the possibility that I was paying for everyone but me to have hot showers.
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I would also speak to the landlord about who is acutally paying for the utilities for the laundry room. If it's a common-use room you should be paying for it (or should be solely paying for it depending on your lease).
[QUOTE]Definitely call your landlord about it. Can you also notify your utilities company about the possibility of stolen utilities? They should be able to track where the electricity, etc. is going. That's BS, Mery.
Posted by baystateapple[/QUOTE]
I called the gas company like 3 years ago after our first bill and asked if they could do an audit or something or compare the bill to the unit next to us and they were wildly unhelpful. They said, "well, his energy use might be different." Yeah, but if my bill is 4 times what his bill is, that tells me something, trust me. I'll try calling again and I'll have Oliver email our landlord to see what he knows about it.
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That's just BS.
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Quick fix: They are running extension cords from the laundry room. They do not have a key to the laundry room. Unplug the cords, remove them from the laundry room, and lock the door. If they ask to be let in, follow them downstairs and if they do try to plug the cords back in, tell them no.
[QUOTE]Talk to the landlord now. <strong>Quick fix: They are running extension cords from the laundry room. They do not have a key to the laundry room. Unplug the cords, remove them from the laundry room, and lock the door. If they ask to be let in, follow them downstairs and if they do try to plug the cords back in, tell them no.
</strong>Posted by Robin+Cooper[/QUOTE]
Oh, and also do this.
[QUOTE]Ditto everyone else. Your neighbours sound ridiculous. WOW! Extension chords? Call your landlord and your utility company ASAP.
Posted by Habs2Hart[/QUOTE]
There are so many reasons they're ridiculous. They left wet laundry in the laundry room for like 2-3 weeks last month. It was gross. And I think their friends used to go down there and shoot up, no joke.
He has a puppy too, so I feel bad. And apparently a new cat, whom we've recently seen in the window.
Nice guy, but he works on and off in the music industry. I guess he's been "off" lately. And as for the girl/girlfriend, if you can't do your laundry in, like a day or two, I have no idea how you can be gainfully employed.
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[QUOTE]Even if it's not your electric they are stealing, they are in fact stealing someone's and that needs to be reported.
Posted by lyndausvi[/QUOTE]
Good point. H is contacting the landlord under the guise of concern for whose utilities these actually are.
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And yes, obviously, call the landlord.
[QUOTE]Talk to the landlord now. Quick fix: They are running extension cords from the laundry room. They do not have a key to the laundry room. Unplug the cords, remove them from the laundry room, and lock the door. If they ask to be let in, follow them downstairs and if they do try to plug the cords back in, tell them no.
Posted by Robin+Cooper[/QUOTE]
THIS.
If they ask tell them that you pay for the electricity on your side of the building and they can't borrow any. Period.
Also take pictures.
Also, if the window is wide open, they are either opening up your area to cold or hot by allowing external factors in or they are allowing bugs and moisture in. Not cool. Unplug now.
The neighbor, which was not attached to my house in any way aside from a shared ally. I never really went into the ally. After our first month of living there, the bills were severely high, i just thought it was because we had so much more space than the other apartment, so i let it slide. A few months later i locked myself out and had a key hidden in the backyard, and in order to get to the backyard, you have to make your way through the ally. Well i noticed that my neighbor had numerous extension cords, cables, etc running along the side of his house as well as it looked as if he cemented over the cords along the ally to avoid being seen. I followed a few of them, come to find out the other end of the cords were going into my basement!
I immediately walked into the basement, found that his cable was hooked to mine and somehow his electric was hooked into mine, i pulled everything, included a number of my cords. I sat, and waited and waited. About 2 hours after sitting in the dark he came knocking on my door asking if our power was out, hmmm, sure is, how about yours? Oh yea yea, can you call the electric company, my phones are dead? So I called the landlord, apparently, she told him it was ok to tap into our house and pull electric and cable, and that she figured he wouldn't be using enough to notice and that we were nice people and wouldn't mind. Uhhh, do i mind, YES I MIND! We actually ended up moving out a short time later, this women was crazy and so was her neighbor.
But anyways. Call the landlord, utilities, etc.
If the landlord is aware that you are paying for the wash units in the basement, and it is not stated in the lease that you are paying for those, you can legally ask for the money back, not pay rent, or move.
Who are you to judge the life I live? I know I'm not perfect and I don't live to be. But, before you start pointing fingers, make sure your hands are clean. -Bob Marley
It sucks that you're probably paying for their electricty but there's a greater issue too.
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jrkjpf: That was one seriously messed up situation you were in. Glad to hear you moved out - that could have caused a major fire.