Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

provisions of utility bills

Is it legal for a landlord to deny access to the utility statements that we are obligated to pay?

We have asked several times for a copy of our utility bills but has denied our requests and expects us to pay them all at once at her calling. She never gives a time frame to pay them and it varies every month. She claims that since it does not state in our contract that she must provide us with a copy of the statements, she is not going to because it is too much extra work for her. How do we know that we are really paying for our bills and only our bills? We have no proof and are very skeptical about the situation.


Asked on 4/01/06, 11:08 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

JOHN GUERRINI THE GUERRINI LAW FIRM - COLLECTION LAWYERS

Re: provisions of utility bills

If the lease agreement requires the tenant to pay the actual utility charges, then the tenant clearly has right to see the bills.

If the lease agreement requires the tenant to pay a flat amount per month the utilities, then most likely, the tenant would not have an automatic right to see the bills.

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Answered on 4/02/06, 11:39 am


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