When signing a rental contract, one of the most frequent questions is who should be in charge of the basic supplies of the house.
Who should pay for supplies in rental contracts?
When drawing up a rental agreement, both parties must agree who will pay for water, electricity and gas. The landlord can choose to have the tenant pay the invoice amounts and can be sure that the tenant is the owner of the supplies.
Therefore, owners and tenants are free to agree who will pay for the supplies and this must be reflected in the contract.
It should be remembered that, in order to rent an apartment, the supplies must be registered. In addition, the invoices of the last month must be paid, which allows the tenant to change the ownership of the receipts once he enters the house.
Which option is more recommended?
The best thing is that the supplies of essential services are in the name of the tenant, since it benefits both parties:
• For the lessee, if the supplies are in his name, he can choose the marketing company and the contracted rate, without depending on his landlord. This is an option to take into account at a time when offers from energy companies are proliferating in full price escalation.
• In the case of the landlord, it is to avoid carrying the debt in the event of non-payment or the cost of terminating the contract early or registering the services again if the tenant cancels them, something that is prohibited.
This option gives tenants complete freedom to change company or contract the rate that best suits their needs. The second reason is that, if the tenant decides to leave the house and leaves some type of debt, they are responsible, disassociating the owners from any debt they had.
In addition, it is recommended that owners reflect their contracts that when tenants leave the house, they provide a copy of the latest utility bills. Also, if the tenants have decided to change companies and that company has a penalty, they are responsible for assuming it. And in the event that they have decided to cancel the supplies, something that is prohibited, they assume the registration cost.
What happens if the tenant does not pay for basic supplies?
If the tenant does not pay the utility bills by the tenant, the companies will stop the supply and will re-establish them once the undue amount is paid.
The landlord must first try to get the tenant to pay the bills. In the event of a negative response, he can file an eviction lawsuit for non-payment of supplies. If the landlord is the owner, he will be responsible for continuing to pay the utility companies. If the landlord also chooses not to pay the bills, the tenant can sue the landlord for coercing the landlord to leave or for making the property uninhabitable.
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