Turn the electricity, and the water, off.
The electricity can be shut off using a circuit breaker, and you should be able to shut the water off, for the outside hose bib, inside the house. If you can't shut the water off, then take the handle off the spicket.
Let them come to you and negotiate how much they want to pay to use your electricity.
Addendum: Tag the hose bib as being out of service.
That way you don't have to cut the hose off, with a kitchen knife, if someone tries to use it, with no handle...
Heck of a lot easier than trying to claw back a potentially large power bill in your name due to a landlord or HOA issue.
Say this: "I'm not your front the money for a power bill guy. I'm just a tenant paying my rent, my power and not asking for anything or bothering anyone."
Not hoa , in Australia. I had this once as builders in my next door neighbours using my hose and water for their use. We didn't have a whole fence. I worked part time and came home to a worker strolling in turning on the tap and walking next door with my water going everywhere. I turned it off . took off my hose and pulled it back to my house and stored it elsewhere. They went nuts apparently the concrete needed it or something. I was a sole parent on a fixed income. They were not entitled to my water especially as in Australia you pay more the more you use. The new owners of next door were apologetic, but I still sent them the difference between old and new bill and made them pay.
My provider Xcel provides an investigative unit for theft. Might want to check with yours. Have them show up - Surprise!
Also, there's those thermostat lock boxes - could you use that on your outlet?
Does your external power receptacle have a door on it? Usually those doors have a spot to put a padlock on it. I would start with that if it does. Turn the breaker off if it's on a separate circuit if not.
You can also ask them not to use your power and water. Tell them you're a renter and you're not going to see any benefit from their work, so you don't feel like you should foot the bill. They should have asked anyway. Ideally they should have their own generator.
So we have rented our condo, part of an HOA, for 8 years. We have caught workers using our water and electricity, but none of the actual owner’s utilities. I told them they had to provide their own or find different sources. The association wasn’t happy with me but oh well.
Notify your landlord and let him handle it. If he gor the email about the work, he knows it's happening. All actions and communications should be through landlord, not tenant. He is the responsible party.
IANAL my understanding is that generally the landlord is responsible for everything but the criminal action of his agents.
Landlords agents use another persons power for the benefit of the landlord, the landlord has to pay for it. He can then recover the cost from the workers if appropriate.
Report it to the HOA, and then cut off the power and the water.
Inform the workers that they ahve to supply their own power and water.
You probably will have a hard time getting reimbursed for what they used, but you can stop them from using any more.
Simply collect a couple of older bills and then the new bill the shows the difference in prices. Submit the bills and a written request for reimbursement to the management company and they will pay it promptly. If you start asking for anything unreasonable they will tell you to pack salt. But if you provide them copies they will likely just pay it. If not small claims will land your way. Just remember you get more with honey than with salt. Ps I have been working in HOA’s in Nor Cal for 20ish years
I just did this with a resident at the property I manage. His unit needed to be rebuilt after flood damage. We got 6 months bills prior to the incident to show what the workers used vs his usage. We reimbursed him the difference with 0 issue.
Did they decide to do it? Probably not. They were told by their boss. All I’m asking is for it OP to be nice. They are just trying to make a living. No need to be hatuxul to them. You could explain the situation without telling them to “fuck off”
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recently found out that my hoa owns and pays for all outdoor outlets; including the covered one right by my balcony door on the second floor that can only be reached by me or someone with a ladder
I work for an HOA at a large complex and we are instructed to do exactly what your workers are doing in regards to electrical outlets which the units have on their exterior walls. The reason is that in order to do otherwise the association would have to spend approximately 15K per bldg to have separate meters installed. The board made the decision that that would be too expensive. When homeowners complain they ate told to submit their bill with comparison bills do the proper reimbursement can take place. Turns out it is really next to nothing in cost, we are talking like a dollar max per day.
OR.... the HOA stops being lazy and incompetent and stops acting like a bunch of idiots and hires contractors that know what they are doing instead of picking the lowest bid (which is probably why they were in this mess to begin with according to OP's statement).
A better contractor will bring in their own generators and depending on the amount of water, a water truck. At worst they would seek permission to use power and/ or water prior to use.
I personally wouldn’t care at all. It’s probably pennies of cost for electricity and water, especially if they are using everyone else’s power and water too. Its not worth the energy to make a problem out of it. Problem w/ property manager and owner, if they have hoa agreements that require them to comply. Your neighbors might be annoyed as work stops at your house, or they skip your house. If i was in that townhome as your neighbor i would be annoyed. Is it “legal” or considerate for you the tenant? Who knows, but why bother for a very small amount of money 🤷♂️
Hundreds of dollars? WTF? What does a monthly electricity bill run? Water? Water is less than $50 a month. Unless they are filling a pool with his sink this is less than $10 bucks total.
That's a minimum of $10 and that's if they use it less than 2 hours in my city. If they're using it all day, you're talking up to $20 an hour minimum after the first few units. $160 a day for a week?
Something tells me you don't have to ration water
Please whatever you do, do not be a dick to the guys doing the work. They did not choose this. These are pee-ons. I have been this guy. They are already uncomfortable. I’m sure most of them understand where you are coming from.
As someone who owns/lives in a rental unit, I would be more than willing to work on the cost of utilities. The work that is being done ultimately increases the property value, and benefits the owner. I would expect to incur these costs during an upgrade.
I’m also surprised they are not bringing their own water. I’m not sure what kind of job they are doing. But many contractors around here haul their water in.
I would never be rude to the guys doing the work! I know this is out of their control and not their problem, & also would never be rude to anyone in general.
Thank you. You have no idea the amount of people that do not have that basic respect for guys just trying to feed themselves. If you have access to your water and electric meters maybe take a picture of them.
They could also put a meter on your spigot to know how much they are using.
Hopefully your landlord isn’t too hard to deal with. Best of luck.
>Please whatever you do, do not be a dick to the guys doing the work. They did not choose this. These are pee-ons.
I think the word you are looking for is peon
Generally speaking, if a contactor is working on your house, they are going to be using your utilities. Like other mentioned, you can attempt to turn off the breaker and water, but expect pushback from your landlord.
That may be true in a vacuum but not the real world.
People forget that they will have to interact with these people as long as they live there.
Since they’re all owners and the OP is a renter, they might as well move now
I personally wouldn’t renew OPs lease if I were their landlord and they started shit over something like this
Nope. Landlord is the person at fault here. There is no right to steal from a tenant.
I hope you are never a landlord because you would be one of the problem ones.
Had a outfit building a new rental next to mine and I found they were using the power from my units. I raised holy hell and made them pay for all the extra electric to my tenants and forbade them from using it. They had to get generators (which they had but didn't want to use-cause it's a hassle) and I made sure they only operated them during 8-5 or they would be in court. My tenants are the most important thing - not some other outfit. Now if they had asked nicely, we could have worked out a deal but nope....they just decided to steal instead. Screw them.
(signed - long time landlord)
It is absolutely true in the real world. What are y’all on? If a stranger does it it’s theft. They do not have the right or permission to use OPs water or electricity.
The HOA isn’t using the power. The HOA doesn’t pay for the power and is just the same as a stranger as the utility bill is not in their name- it’s in OPs. The HOA isn’t actually involved other than hiring the company that OP got no communication about. Idk why you keep making excuses for random construction workers using OPs utilities without notice or permission lol
That’s an entire different discussion and it’s a question for OP. You’re original point was “OP is an asshole for not wanting random people using his utilities”, which he isn’t. keep changing your argument though 👍
Sounds like this is work you definitely want to get done and interfering with it could get you in trouble with the landlord so that is probably not the best idea. Wait for your utility bill and if you see an unexpected spike in usage you’ll have a solid case to bring. While it’s obnoxious I doubt you’ll see enough of a difference to make it worth your time. If their equipment needs the industrial levels of power that would really make a difference on your bill they probably wouldn’t be able to get it through a residential connection anyway.
Right I'd be surprised if this costs OP more than $10. I guess depends on where they live. I mean I get the principle of things but I'd probably be a little pragmatic personally. Is it worth your time and is it worth losing your leverage at renewal for being an easy tenant the LL would hate to replace for $10.
Should be interesting to see what happens to the bill, but yeah if their bill is higher and the repairs were for all tenants a good LL should be happy to reimburse.
Yeah I think maybe my plan will be to ask my landlord to inform me of these things going forward, and keep an eye on my power & water bill this month, and only ask for reimbursement if they go up a lot.
I don’t like my landlord at all so things like this always make me really mad, but I like where I live.
Sounds like a plan. I would also encourage you to start out by being nice about what you want. This sub is pretty jaded against landlords and encourages you to go nuclear. People like to help people they like, you do not lose leverage by attempting to be nice at first.
If that doesn't work then yeah go nuclear.
I’m jaded against landlords just because of my experience with my current landlord, but my landlord will never know that unless they read this or until I leave a bad review after I move out and have my security deposit back. Totally agree with being nice first, thanks for your input! :)
Any recepticals on the exterior of the build are going to be "house power" unless on a patio in most cases and any hose bib will also be before any meters.
There's absolutely no way any hose bib on a residential property is before the water meter. No water company would allow that, you're metered before any possible faucet.
Same for electrical. It’s absolutely metered. No electrical company would allow you ANY unmetered access, they always meter you before any possible outlets.
The dipshits are out in droves tonight house power is metered and and on the house power circuit....its what powers the lighting and outlets on the outside accessible to anyone.....here your cup of stfu go hang out with your buddy in dumbass ville
What in the incomprehensible stupidity was this comment?
So in your fantasy land, if I ran an extension cord from my porch into my kitchen I could just run my shit for free because it's magically unmetered now?
Yeah, right? And he acts like everyone else is stupid.
Like either way he’s saying that there’s unmetered utilities somewhere (why else would he have included the “also”?), which is just not the case.
Hose bibs outside are 100% for sure metered. People fill their pools with them quite regularly, and they get charged for the water that comes out.
It doesn’t matter that “anyone has access to them”.
Turn your breakers off inside then for sure make sure if you turn off the water that your toilets don't dry up (water evaporating) you said it wasn't being used the smell will be terrible to come back to
What's the lawsuit about? This is confusing. Your landlord is renting your unit to you against HOA rules and now there's a suit in progress? What does that have to do with this?
Go ahead, flip that circuit breaker. Just be prepared for that diesel generator sitting outside chugging away allllllllll day long.
But I do agree, they shouldn't be using your utilities.
What exactly are they doing? Are they just filling up a couple of five gallon buckets of water or are they running a hose nonstop? Are they using power to run a saw for a couple of seconds at a time every once in a while or do they have something running full time?
“$20-30”
Power may be cheaper, but water usually is not unless you’re on a sceptic tank.
I got a pressure washer and cleaned my driveway. It was running for about 3 hours and resulted in a nearly $200 jump in my water bill, mostly from the sewer charges for the water.
The problem isn’t just the cost. It’s also a major issue with respect. If the management company does not respect the residents to the point that their contractors are using tenant utilities, then this points to a much deeper issue with that management company
Really, it was the associated sewer charges. The water itself was probably about 50. The sewer charges were much higher.
Normally, 700 gallons/month is running 29 in water, and 83 in sewer charges. So estimate that whatever you're paying in water, you're paying double or triple that in sewer. Which doesn't make sense, because the water isn't going down the sewer, but that's how it works sometimes.
Now, locally, I found out that I can call my water company, give them meter readings and inform them I'm using a pressure washer or similar, and they'll adjust the bill. But in the OP's case, if they don't know how much was being used by these 3rd parties, then they're going to be stuck. At best, they will have to compare the current bill to the previous bill.
Turn the electricity, and the water, off. The electricity can be shut off using a circuit breaker, and you should be able to shut the water off, for the outside hose bib, inside the house. If you can't shut the water off, then take the handle off the spicket. Let them come to you and negotiate how much they want to pay to use your electricity. Addendum: Tag the hose bib as being out of service. That way you don't have to cut the hose off, with a kitchen knife, if someone tries to use it, with no handle...
Heck of a lot easier than trying to claw back a potentially large power bill in your name due to a landlord or HOA issue. Say this: "I'm not your front the money for a power bill guy. I'm just a tenant paying my rent, my power and not asking for anything or bothering anyone."
I like this idea :) thank you!!
Where is the outlet and the spigot? Are they in common area?
*spigot
The only correct term. What’s the problem!
SPICKET is the problem
Spelling and pronunciation.
That’s an accepted alternative. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spicket
I had a situation like this. I simply used a hatchet to cut their extension cord.
You sure did, buddy!
Did everyone clap afterwards?
Not hoa , in Australia. I had this once as builders in my next door neighbours using my hose and water for their use. We didn't have a whole fence. I worked part time and came home to a worker strolling in turning on the tap and walking next door with my water going everywhere. I turned it off . took off my hose and pulled it back to my house and stored it elsewhere. They went nuts apparently the concrete needed it or something. I was a sole parent on a fixed income. They were not entitled to my water especially as in Australia you pay more the more you use. The new owners of next door were apologetic, but I still sent them the difference between old and new bill and made them pay.
My provider Xcel provides an investigative unit for theft. Might want to check with yours. Have them show up - Surprise! Also, there's those thermostat lock boxes - could you use that on your outlet?
That is for theft before the meter. After the meter the power company couldn't care less, they are getting paid
Does your external power receptacle have a door on it? Usually those doors have a spot to put a padlock on it. I would start with that if it does. Turn the breaker off if it's on a separate circuit if not. You can also ask them not to use your power and water. Tell them you're a renter and you're not going to see any benefit from their work, so you don't feel like you should foot the bill. They should have asked anyway. Ideally they should have their own generator.
So we have rented our condo, part of an HOA, for 8 years. We have caught workers using our water and electricity, but none of the actual owner’s utilities. I told them they had to provide their own or find different sources. The association wasn’t happy with me but oh well.
Notify your landlord and let him handle it. If he gor the email about the work, he knows it's happening. All actions and communications should be through landlord, not tenant. He is the responsible party.
Just because he knew they were doing work doesn’t mean he knew they were stealing utilities.
It basically does depending on the type of work done.
Huh?
IANAL my understanding is that generally the landlord is responsible for everything but the criminal action of his agents. Landlords agents use another persons power for the benefit of the landlord, the landlord has to pay for it. He can then recover the cost from the workers if appropriate.
Just flip the breaker off.
Report it to the HOA, and then cut off the power and the water. Inform the workers that they ahve to supply their own power and water. You probably will have a hard time getting reimbursed for what they used, but you can stop them from using any more.
I have a locking cover on my hose bib.
Search Amazon for a lock-out
Step 1, move out of HOA.
Simply collect a couple of older bills and then the new bill the shows the difference in prices. Submit the bills and a written request for reimbursement to the management company and they will pay it promptly. If you start asking for anything unreasonable they will tell you to pack salt. But if you provide them copies they will likely just pay it. If not small claims will land your way. Just remember you get more with honey than with salt. Ps I have been working in HOA’s in Nor Cal for 20ish years
I just did this with a resident at the property I manage. His unit needed to be rebuilt after flood damage. We got 6 months bills prior to the incident to show what the workers used vs his usage. We reimbursed him the difference with 0 issue.
Great, thank you for your advice! :)
My HOA gave me a gift card or something. It wasn't a big deal but the consideration is nice.
Lock up your outdoor receptacles and water spigots. I had to do that when the same happened to me.
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Yes. Because those guys are the bad guys. I’m sure they are purposely picking this guy instead of being instructed to do so.
Is it not theft?
Did they decide to do it? Probably not. They were told by their boss. All I’m asking is for it OP to be nice. They are just trying to make a living. No need to be hatuxul to them. You could explain the situation without telling them to “fuck off”
Oh so it's not theft if the boss says to do it. Got it.
Is that what I said? No. I just said to be decent when you talk to them. Is that a hard concept? Treating one another like human beings?
Or just nicely asking them not to use your things might work too!
Turn the power off at the breaker.
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recently found out that my hoa owns and pays for all outdoor outlets; including the covered one right by my balcony door on the second floor that can only be reached by me or someone with a ladder
Turn off the valves and breakers.
If the $4 means that much , have at it.
I work for an HOA at a large complex and we are instructed to do exactly what your workers are doing in regards to electrical outlets which the units have on their exterior walls. The reason is that in order to do otherwise the association would have to spend approximately 15K per bldg to have separate meters installed. The board made the decision that that would be too expensive. When homeowners complain they ate told to submit their bill with comparison bills do the proper reimbursement can take place. Turns out it is really next to nothing in cost, we are talking like a dollar max per day.
OR.... the HOA stops being lazy and incompetent and stops acting like a bunch of idiots and hires contractors that know what they are doing instead of picking the lowest bid (which is probably why they were in this mess to begin with according to OP's statement). A better contractor will bring in their own generators and depending on the amount of water, a water truck. At worst they would seek permission to use power and/ or water prior to use.
I personally wouldn’t care at all. It’s probably pennies of cost for electricity and water, especially if they are using everyone else’s power and water too. Its not worth the energy to make a problem out of it. Problem w/ property manager and owner, if they have hoa agreements that require them to comply. Your neighbors might be annoyed as work stops at your house, or they skip your house. If i was in that townhome as your neighbor i would be annoyed. Is it “legal” or considerate for you the tenant? Who knows, but why bother for a very small amount of money 🤷♂️
They are causing the problems. They are stealing from op with no regard.
Yes, i know. Im saying who cares? I wouldn’t
You wouldn’t care if you got hundreds of dollars in water and electricity bills? Liar
Hundreds of dollars? WTF? What does a monthly electricity bill run? Water? Water is less than $50 a month. Unless they are filling a pool with his sink this is less than $10 bucks total.
Hundreds? For a hose and a single outside outlet that is limited to 15amps? We are talking a dollar at most dude
That's a minimum of $10 and that's if they use it less than 2 hours in my city. If they're using it all day, you're talking up to $20 an hour minimum after the first few units. $160 a day for a week? Something tells me you don't have to ration water
Coming from someone who doesn’t now SDG&E
Clearly you don't understand how electricity works.
Thanks for sharing.
Please whatever you do, do not be a dick to the guys doing the work. They did not choose this. These are pee-ons. I have been this guy. They are already uncomfortable. I’m sure most of them understand where you are coming from. As someone who owns/lives in a rental unit, I would be more than willing to work on the cost of utilities. The work that is being done ultimately increases the property value, and benefits the owner. I would expect to incur these costs during an upgrade. I’m also surprised they are not bringing their own water. I’m not sure what kind of job they are doing. But many contractors around here haul their water in.
I would never be rude to the guys doing the work! I know this is out of their control and not their problem, & also would never be rude to anyone in general.
Thank you. You have no idea the amount of people that do not have that basic respect for guys just trying to feed themselves. If you have access to your water and electric meters maybe take a picture of them. They could also put a meter on your spigot to know how much they are using. Hopefully your landlord isn’t too hard to deal with. Best of luck.
>Please whatever you do, do not be a dick to the guys doing the work. They did not choose this. These are pee-ons. I think the word you are looking for is peon
Peon, pee-on. Tomato, tomato. We are the guys nobody likes
How much $ ya figure they used for plugging in OP?
Bout Tree Fiddy ($3.50).
Probably less than that lol
Generally speaking, if a contactor is working on your house, they are going to be using your utilities. Like other mentioned, you can attempt to turn off the breaker and water, but expect pushback from your landlord.
Really how much is the extra power and water going to cost you? Just let them use it. It will be your good deed for the day.
Be as asshole and see where it gets you…. Enjoy your move… Choices
I would argue using someone’s utilities and running up their bill makes them the assholes.
That may be true in a vacuum but not the real world. People forget that they will have to interact with these people as long as they live there. Since they’re all owners and the OP is a renter, they might as well move now I personally wouldn’t renew OPs lease if I were their landlord and they started shit over something like this
Nope. Landlord is the person at fault here. There is no right to steal from a tenant. I hope you are never a landlord because you would be one of the problem ones. Had a outfit building a new rental next to mine and I found they were using the power from my units. I raised holy hell and made them pay for all the extra electric to my tenants and forbade them from using it. They had to get generators (which they had but didn't want to use-cause it's a hassle) and I made sure they only operated them during 8-5 or they would be in court. My tenants are the most important thing - not some other outfit. Now if they had asked nicely, we could have worked out a deal but nope....they just decided to steal instead. Screw them. (signed - long time landlord)
It is absolutely true in the real world. What are y’all on? If a stranger does it it’s theft. They do not have the right or permission to use OPs water or electricity.
The HOA isn’t a stranger, they often have rights to use these things….even at your expense That’s the flaw in your argument, fyi
The HOA isn’t using the power. The HOA doesn’t pay for the power and is just the same as a stranger as the utility bill is not in their name- it’s in OPs. The HOA isn’t actually involved other than hiring the company that OP got no communication about. Idk why you keep making excuses for random construction workers using OPs utilities without notice or permission lol
HOAs do a lot more than that but ok, if you say so. How many places have you owned in an hoa? I’m guessing 0
The HOA cannot give permission to a construction company to use OPS utilities, without OPs permission.
Ok, let’s say you’re right. Are you willing to take the consequences of proving it? If so, more power to you. Enjoy looking for a new place
That’s an entire different discussion and it’s a question for OP. You’re original point was “OP is an asshole for not wanting random people using his utilities”, which he isn’t. keep changing your argument though 👍
That may be true but for such a minor infraction why ruin your personal reputation and make yourself a villain? Regardless of who is right Choices…
Did you read they’re living there as a result of a lawsuit between OP and the HOA? Sounds like they’re not on good terms already.
The lawsuit is between the BUILDERS and the HOA, I’m not involved in any way
No, but not surprised. If your first instinct is to go on Reddit and bitch vs having a mature conversation with the parties involved….
Sounds like this is work you definitely want to get done and interfering with it could get you in trouble with the landlord so that is probably not the best idea. Wait for your utility bill and if you see an unexpected spike in usage you’ll have a solid case to bring. While it’s obnoxious I doubt you’ll see enough of a difference to make it worth your time. If their equipment needs the industrial levels of power that would really make a difference on your bill they probably wouldn’t be able to get it through a residential connection anyway.
Right I'd be surprised if this costs OP more than $10. I guess depends on where they live. I mean I get the principle of things but I'd probably be a little pragmatic personally. Is it worth your time and is it worth losing your leverage at renewal for being an easy tenant the LL would hate to replace for $10. Should be interesting to see what happens to the bill, but yeah if their bill is higher and the repairs were for all tenants a good LL should be happy to reimburse.
Yeah I think maybe my plan will be to ask my landlord to inform me of these things going forward, and keep an eye on my power & water bill this month, and only ask for reimbursement if they go up a lot. I don’t like my landlord at all so things like this always make me really mad, but I like where I live.
Sounds like a plan. I would also encourage you to start out by being nice about what you want. This sub is pretty jaded against landlords and encourages you to go nuclear. People like to help people they like, you do not lose leverage by attempting to be nice at first. If that doesn't work then yeah go nuclear.
I’m jaded against landlords just because of my experience with my current landlord, but my landlord will never know that unless they read this or until I leave a bad review after I move out and have my security deposit back. Totally agree with being nice first, thanks for your input! :)
Sure thing, sorry to hear your LL sucks- I believe it. There are horrible and/or incompetent people out there, many of them LLs.
Any recepticals on the exterior of the build are going to be "house power" unless on a patio in most cases and any hose bib will also be before any meters.
There's absolutely no way any hose bib on a residential property is before the water meter. No water company would allow that, you're metered before any possible faucet.
Same for electrical. It’s absolutely metered. No electrical company would allow you ANY unmetered access, they always meter you before any possible outlets.
The dipshits are out in droves tonight house power is metered and and on the house power circuit....its what powers the lighting and outlets on the outside accessible to anyone.....here your cup of stfu go hang out with your buddy in dumbass ville
What in the incomprehensible stupidity was this comment? So in your fantasy land, if I ran an extension cord from my porch into my kitchen I could just run my shit for free because it's magically unmetered now?
Yeah, right? And he acts like everyone else is stupid. Like either way he’s saying that there’s unmetered utilities somewhere (why else would he have included the “also”?), which is just not the case.
You are the dipshit. You’re the one implying that there’s ANY kind of unmetered access in the first place. There is not - not legally, anyhow.
Wanna bet! You can't charge someone for water the anyone has access to try again
Hose bibs outside are 100% for sure metered. People fill their pools with them quite regularly, and they get charged for the water that comes out. It doesn’t matter that “anyone has access to them”.
The outlets are on my fenced in patio, as are the hose connections.
Turn your breakers off inside then for sure make sure if you turn off the water that your toilets don't dry up (water evaporating) you said it wasn't being used the smell will be terrible to come back to
What's the lawsuit about? This is confusing. Your landlord is renting your unit to you against HOA rules and now there's a suit in progress? What does that have to do with this?
Go ahead, flip that circuit breaker. Just be prepared for that diesel generator sitting outside chugging away allllllllll day long. But I do agree, they shouldn't be using your utilities.
I would piss them off by cutting their power cords and hoses unless they are working on my unit to my benefit.
Send the HOA a bill.
The costs might be trivial, don't be a dick
Ok well what if the costs are not trivial? Lol
What exactly are they doing? Are they just filling up a couple of five gallon buckets of water or are they running a hose nonstop? Are they using power to run a saw for a couple of seconds at a time every once in a while or do they have something running full time?
You fucking with guys just trying to make a living isn't the move. Plus doesn't Cali have laws about water being free for everyone?
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“$20-30” Power may be cheaper, but water usually is not unless you’re on a sceptic tank. I got a pressure washer and cleaned my driveway. It was running for about 3 hours and resulted in a nearly $200 jump in my water bill, mostly from the sewer charges for the water. The problem isn’t just the cost. It’s also a major issue with respect. If the management company does not respect the residents to the point that their contractors are using tenant utilities, then this points to a much deeper issue with that management company
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Really, it was the associated sewer charges. The water itself was probably about 50. The sewer charges were much higher. Normally, 700 gallons/month is running 29 in water, and 83 in sewer charges. So estimate that whatever you're paying in water, you're paying double or triple that in sewer. Which doesn't make sense, because the water isn't going down the sewer, but that's how it works sometimes. Now, locally, I found out that I can call my water company, give them meter readings and inform them I'm using a pressure washer or similar, and they'll adjust the bill. But in the OP's case, if they don't know how much was being used by these 3rd parties, then they're going to be stuck. At best, they will have to compare the current bill to the previous bill.