Tshwane Municipality

[Chrisjan B]

Hello All
We have a small flat in Tshwane that we are renting out via an agent. In May the rent was paid late and I start to investigate. The flat does not have a prepaid meter and we are now taking legal steps to evict the tenant. As part of all this his electricity account were asked and I found out that he did not pay a single cent since he moved in. Can somebody maybe inform why the municipality did not disconnected his electricity yet?

[AmithS]

Tshwane has major billing problems, complete buildings with unpaid electricity\ rates\ taxes etc... but still getting services...

[AndyD]

You need to be careful with tenant accounts such as Telkom and Eskom. They invariably prefer to chase the property owner rather than the tenant for outstanding amounts even though the account may be in the tenants name. I got blacklisted a few years ago for one of my tenants unpaid accounts which for some unexplained reason they attributed to myself after a year of failing to collect from the tenant. It cost me time and money to get the blacklisting reversed with legal action.

[AmithS]

From what I understand, my letting agent says that some part of the law states that the owner of the property is ultimately liable for the services used. Therefore I was advised to change to a prepaid electricity meter at a rental flat I have as I had a similar problem like AndyD

[Chrisjan B]

Thank you AndyD and JWalker, look like I'm in for a lot of trouble.

[BusFact]

Thank you AndyD and JWalker, look like I'm in for a lot of trouble.

Big trouble from my experience. A few years back we eventually received only R30'000 for a property worth over R600'000 due to the massive arrears on electricity and water (It was a factory that had a fairly high monthly bill). Hurt like hell, but can only chalk it up to experience.

[Dave A]

Has anyone tackled the metro for negligence?

I'm thinking of an argument along the lines of:
There is the policy (disconnect after x period in arrears).
The metro failed to apply the policy.
This failure has predjudiced the landlord and the metro should be held liable for the losses the landlord has incurred as a result.

[BusFact]

I fear that legal action against a municipality would be a costly affair and in addition, the counter argument is that it is the landlords responsability to monitor the utility bill.

[Dave A]

I fear that legal action against a municipality would be a costly affair

or they might settle to avoid a precedent being set. Agreed though, it would take quite a bill to justify risking the legal costs. Just wondered out loud whether anyone had tried yet.

But arguing the potential case could be fun
So:

the counter argument is that it is the landlords responsability to monitor the utility bill.

And how, pray tell, is the landlord supposed to establish whether the tenant's electricity bill has been paid or not?

Does the metro notify the landlord when a bill is sent to the tenant?
Does the metro notify the landlord when a payment is made?
Does the metro notify the landlord when a payment is not made?
Does the metro notify the landlord when the metro enters into contract with a tenant to provide an electrical supply?
Is the landlord a signatory on the contract to supply electricity to the tenant?

[AndyD]

These were basically the arguments we used along with the pile of bills that had accumulated for the tenant. It didn't go to court luckily but it did take nearly six months of constant pressure to get the outstanding account back in the tenants name. The legal bills were marginally more than the outstanding account at the end of it

[Chrisjan B]

Dave this is exactly that bugs me - why are the landlord responsible for the tenants outstanding bills? I am thinking to install a prepaid meter but first need to pay the outstanding amount of about R 2600-00 plus R 2650-00 for the meter. The tenant only paid the deposit and nothing further since he moved in (October 2010). According to the statement the municipality charged him about R 580-00 interest on the account but it beats me why it is not cut off. According to the lawyer it is cheaper and better to install the prepaid meter because the municipality charges an exorbitant amount to have the electricity cut off.

To top it all - this person is a legal advisor...

[AndyD]

If the tenant is a professional you could try emailing him at his work explaining the issue. Casually mention that you might accidentally include his work colleagues/bosses etc as recipients of the next email

[Justloadit]

This makes the legal fraternity look bad. Who cares that he is a legal adviser, it does not give him the right to commit fraud!

The problem in many cases is that we walk away because it is cheaper, and this individuals just get more bolder and do bigger fraud. They should be stopped at the first step!

[Chrisjan B]

It is my intention to try to stop him, but there is a limit - legal fees, new prepaid meter, paying his arrears electricity account etc. If possible I will have him blacklisted and named and shamed.

[AmithS]

You could also try to black list him with the tenants network(I think thats what it is called) or something similar. Thats what my agent did for me with my problem tenant!