HELP, im a renter and i have an$800 energy payment due, and blown thermostat, shouldnt owner of home comp us??

Question

the bill was $800 dollars for the mo of february. and it was not due to late fees, or the confusion about the underestimating. it didnt seem possible but it was. we just found out it was the thermostat, and thats what was causing our outragous bill. shouldnt we be compensated for half the bill, due to the thermostat being the landlords fault?? is that too much to ask?? the landlord is blaming us!! are normal bill should be around $400, so i think thats only fair!! i babysit, and sit at home all day, but i open all the blinds (no lights are on) and i open the doors for fresh air, due to it being february (no air/heat was on) during the day, so actually the heat was run at night. am i in the right to aurgue for that money?? thanks for all help!!

Answer 1

Unless I'm misunderstanding, you had the doors open during February. Even if the heat was only run at night, that would still make it work much harder to get the heat back up. Unfortunately I don't believe your landlord would be responsible for the bill unless he KNEW the thermostat was broken. If you had told him (in writing, prior to you getting the huge bill), and he didn't fix the problem in a timely manner, then the law would probably be on your side, and I would take him to court.

You can ask him, and he might be nice about it, but unfortunately these things happen.

Answer 2

This is the type of thing that makes landlording a tough business...... NO he won't pay your bill, not even if the thrmostat was broken ! You as a tenant have responsibilities of your own, you are living in someone elses property. You have the responsibility to inform the owner ASAP of any malfunctioning equipment. (I have experienced tenants that run the window units and heaters at the same time and complain to me they can't get the temperature balanced out!)

Answer 3

No.

You spent at least a month with the thermostat on the fritz, meaning the heat was running when it didn't need to be? You didn't notice that? How was the landlord supposed to know it was broken if you didn't tell him?