is landlord responsible for broken gas pipe that caused excessive gas bill?

Question

We were renting a home in cleveland, ohio and during this past cold winter a gas line froze and broke ouside the house. It was spewing out gas for nearly a month before we were contacted that our gas bill jumped over 1500.00 in a month. Now i'm being charged for the gas, I was the tenant. Who is responsible for the 1500.00 overcharge for gas.

Answer 1

you were supposed to report it immediately and your contract probably says that so yes you are responsible for that bill. If you didn't know then you might want to contact the gas company and fuss with them and negotiate it according to the use you usually use per month. Be sure to talk with a MANAGER and not just some customer service person. They will need to come out and examine the pipe and of course determine that it broke because of freezing. Of course you could sue in court if they aren't agreeable but take pictures of the problem pipe so the judge can see and make determination.

Answer 2

Your landlord. This is why. How were you supposed to know that the pipe was broken? If you complained as soon as you saw the high bill then you have done your duty to report it. And if the pipe broke outside the house, but not in a way that was obvious, then it wa the landlord's error to have not sufficiently insulated the supply pipe.

Answer 3

You are responsible for the gas. The LL only needed to repair the line that broke.

Answer 4

He is required to fix it, but it's not his fault it broke. You are on the hook for the gas.

Answer 5

You. You are required to notify the landlord immediately of any issues. Until you do, you are liable for damages.

Answer 6

If as a landlord you told us about the broken pipe, we would send out the gas co to repair it. That would be our responsibility. And as it is gas we would drop the phone and be straight onto the gas as an emergency because you could die. It is not something a landlord could ignore.



If your rent includes bills (most do not) then it would be the landlord who pays.



Standard however is tenant pays bills.



The question then is how long was the pipe broken and when was it discovered and who was told.



And from my view its you pay the bill sadly.

Answer 7

While you are the user of the gas and therefore the one that pays the bill, you should still contact the gas company. Often they will waive part of the bill when this happens. You would not be the only customer this happened to, it is almost impossible to freeze the gas pipe, so the weather had to be outrageously out of the norm. The gas company is insured for this, and can also write off the loss. Just be really nice when you call. They do not HAVE to waive anything, I am just saying they can and if you play your cards right they will. One hint, if you happen to be a senior, have a relative (your child or grandchild) call and discuss limited income and your age, as long as that is true they will usually drop the charges.