Pennsylvania Law 66 Pa.C.S.A. § 1529.1: If the tenant is responsible for any utility bill that utility must be individually metered. i.e. the meter must register the usage exclusively for that unit. If the meter also records usage for something outside the unit such as common area lighting, furnace, etc. or for another unit, the unit is considered not individually metered. This is known as foreign load. This applies to electric, gas, water, steam or sewage utilities. Under the law, the utilities are authorized and required to place the account in the landlord’s name effective the date they become aware of the foreign load. The landlord then becomes responsible for the utility service and the account must remain in the landlord’s name until the foreign load situation is corrected. One provision states that if a landlord fails to pay the utility bill, to avoid possible termination of utility service tenants can pay the bill and deduct that amount from the rent.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 16:12:06 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015