Tenant and utilities

[workmangc]

Hello all,

I'm looking for some advice. My wife and I own a small .LLC in PA that has rental property. Bear in mind, I'm not a slum lord. This particular unit was a home that was purchased for my family in 2008 while I deployed so that they could be close to my in-laws. After that my family joined me in Germany and we started an .LLC.

Anyways, to the details.

On 2 December someone called a business that does our annual heater services, stating they were my wife and asked to have the bills sent to the address of the rental property and placed an order for oil. ($390.99 worth) Most houses in this part of PA use oil heat.

On 5 December the Oil was delivered.

On 6 December another call was placed to the same business. Again, it was by a person pretending to be my wife. She asked about the bill amount and if further deliveries could be made. When informed that no further deliveries would be made until the bill was paid. Then the person said that the bill would have to be sent to "Them". This confused the representative at the company and she asked again if this was my wife. This time the person admitted that they were "XXXX", our current tenant in that property.

I suspect my tenant. She was late with rent again in December, and I was only able to contact her after she was sent a "notice to quit". I suspect the change of address was an effort to keep us from learning about the oil order, and to perhaps keep it up as long as possible. Fortunate for me that this is a small town, the company contacted my in-laws and stated the account was past due on the 6th of January and we have begun dealing with this.

I have already contacted the local Police and spoke to the chief, and they are looking into it. However, the chief stated that they thought this would be a civil matter. While I understand it is not the PD's job to get my $$ from the tenant, isn't this fraud?

While I understand tenant law varies by state, I'm looking for info on any criminal charges that may or may not apply. Any thoughts/ opinions?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Outlaw99]

criminal charges definately....get an attorney.

 

[silver03svt]

Rent would be a civil issue. However, pretending to be your wife to get fuel delivery would be a crminal issue. Possibly under an obtaining goods under false pretenses or something along that line.

 

[Devious_Snake]

Rent would be a civil issue. However, pretending to be your wife to get fuel delivery would be a crminal issue. Possibly under an obtaining goods under false pretenses or something along that line.

this! the money would be civil more than likely but if the PD takes a good look into the economic crimes they should be able to find something where she was trying to assume your wifes identity

 

[Outlaw99]

theres no telling what else she is capable of doing. better get her charged as soon as you can

 

[COBRA_ESQ]

I have come upon a number of civil/criminal situations such as this. Regrettably the local DA's office is overburdened and are not quick to get involved, preferring to let the matter travel the civil route. Even with a favorable civil verdict and admissions in testimony, it is hard to get a criminal charge since the matter is "resolved".

Get them out as quickly as possible. Keep talking with the oil company and although it is not really your obligation since you did not contract with them, work something out to pay the bill since you would have needed the oil anyway.

As a side question, did you do your due diligence before renting it to them such as speaking with their prior landlords, confirming employment, verifying bank accounts etc. I find that just asking for this information weeds out a lot of the bad apples.

 

[workmangc]

As a side question, did you do your due diligence before renting it to them such as speaking with their prior landlords, confirming employment, verifying bank accounts etc. I find that just asking for this information weeds out a lot of the bad apples.

Yes, All of the above was confirmed. However shortly after the lease was signed she lost her job. I do not know the circumstances but only that she does not work there anymore.


As an update. I contacted the local PD and they tried to tell me it would be a civil dispute. I explained that I wasn't looking for the PD to get my money from the tenant, but that they pretended to be my wife.

Instead of speaking to the company that the tenant bought oil from, they spoke only to the tenant. Of course the tenant explained that it was a mistake and the PD accepted it at that when the tenant explained that they had a "check ready" to pay the bill.

It's been 2 days and still it hasn't been paid.

I think I will give it a week, Pay the bill myself and add it to the invoice for the rent.

In addition, I think the State police may be more thorough in their questioning.

Here is my response from the Chief. Names have been removed for privacy.

Dear Mr. XXX,

I have spoke with XXXX who has explained her side of the story. She had ordered oil but also received a bill for 200 odd dollars for the service. She has a check prepared for the $399.00 but they will not allow her to purchase any more oil until both bills are paid and they are both in her name as she changed the account to be billed for the oil. There does not appear to be any intent of malice, rather Jack Rich did not differentiate between the two entities ie: landlord v tenant. Again, she has both bills but only is prepared to pay for the oil portion and not the service portion.

Please respond with how you would like to proceed.

Chief XXX.

Below is my reply to the above.

Chief XXX,

The only portion that is unpaid was the $399.90 for the oil. In regards to the bills being in (tenants) name; there is no account in (tenants) name at (oil company name) at present time.

I just spoke to (tenant), she assured me that she would pay the portion of the bill regarding the oil purchase immediately. We will follow up with (oil company name) regarding confirmation of the payment.

Thank you for your time and looking into the matter.

V/R
XXX

 

[workmangc]

I'm really ticked over this. While I wasn't there, I feel that the local PD really wasn't thorough on this.

How could the PD not speak to the company that the oil was purchased from?

If the tenant doesn't follow through on what they told the PD, should I bother informing them, or should I just contact another agency such as the State Police?

 

[PSUCOBRA96]

number one do not pay the oil bill, you did not contract for the oil. You may want or decide to do it later but do not do it yet. The oil company should really be the ones going after the tenant whom admitted she purchased the oil under someone else's name. You may want to pay it of later if you rely on these people to exclusively service that property or possibly split it since they should have confirmed.

I also assume they have a signature for receipt of the oil, she who signed for it and if she forged your wife's name. Forgery and fraud are criminal acts as well as civil. Here in Maryland, kicking a tenant out is very difficult, esp. in the winter months so you may be stuck with a crappy tenant who owes you a high amount. Take her to court, get a judgment against her and you can then bring her back to court and garnish her wages or bank account.

 

[workmangc]

The bill itself was resolved yesterday. The ex-husband came in a paid it for her.

In regards to the criminal act, it seems as though the local PD has zero interest in looking into it, but rather chalks this up to an error on the part of the oil company....although they never spoke to the oil company.

At this point, I'm done with the issue. I'll give the tenant the boot when her lease is up for renew.

 

[SweetSVT99]

The bill itself was resolved yesterday. The ex-husband came in a paid it for her.

In regards to the criminal act, it seems as though the local PD has zero interest in looking into it, but rather chalks this up to an error on the part of the oil company....although they never spoke to the oil company.

At this point, I'm done with the issue. I'll give the tenant the boot when her lease is up for renew.

Any chance that this actually IS the case? I find it quite plausible that, in a small town, the oil company may just assume the female they are talking to from an address they recognize is in fact your wife. It is also possible that the Chief decided that talking to the oil company would be a waste of his time, as he assumes that they are going to say "no she told us she was his wife" (regardless what the truth is) just to cover their mistake.

Regardless, it sounds like you're on the right track now. It is taken care of, hope it doesn't happen again and give her the boot as soon as you can.

 

[workmangc]

Any chance that this actually IS the case? I find it quite plausible that, in a small town, the oil company may just assume the female they are talking to from an address they recognize is in fact your wife. It is also possible that the Chief decided that talking to the oil company would be a waste of his time, as he assumes that they are going to say "no she told us she was his wife" (regardless what the truth is) just to cover their mistake.

Regardless, it sounds like you're on the right track now. It is taken care of, hope it doesn't happen again and give her the boot as soon as you can.

I could chalk it up to an honest mistake, but a few things stick out that lead me to believe it was otherwise.

1. The tenant does not have an account with this company, nor did she attempt to open one.
2. The tenant called and changed the address where the bills are sent, from ours, to hers.
3. The tenant contacted the company on 6 December and wanted to know if future deliveries could be made if that bill wasn't paid.....The tenant was provided a bill on 5 December, (the date of oil delivery) showing the charges in our name.
4. In all of this, the tenant did not even attempt to notify us that we were "mistakenly" charged, or attempt to make payment to the company for this delivery.

I have zero belief in the plausibility that this was an honest mistake.

The credit reports were pulled for my wife and fortunately do not show any new accounts or delinquencies.

 

[workmangc]

I just wanted to revisit the issue and say thanks again to all those who weighed in on the issue.