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Who pays for what, what to ask before you sign, and the two-week checklist that keeps the lights on.
Transferring utilities is the item most people leave until the last week of a move, and it is the one that leaves you sitting in a dark house. It is not complicated, it just has to be started early.
On a single-family rental the owner usually covers water, sewer and rubbish collection. That is not a legal requirement, it is a convention, and it exists because those services are billed by government utilities that treat the property owner as ultimately liable and can place a lien on the property. Because it is a convention rather than a rule, it is negotiable, and whatever you agree has to be in the lease before you sign.
Electricity and gas are almost always the tenant. Internet and television always are.
Some older buildings have one gas or electric meter serving more than one unit, or a tenant meter that also measures a common area like a laundry room. Where that is the case the landlord has to disclose it before you sign the lease and reach a written agreement with you on who pays for the shared portion. If it is not written down, ask for it in writing.
Provider names and phone numbers for every city we manage in are in the utilities directory.
On a single-family rental the owner usually pays, because those services are billed by a government utility that treats the owner as ultimately liable and can place a lien on the property. No law requires it, though, so it is negotiable and it must be settled in the lease before you sign.
Which utilities you are responsible for, roughly what the previous tenant paid, whether the unit has its own water meter, and if there is a yard, who maintains it and whether equipment is provided.
It is, but the landlord has to disclose it to you in writing before you sign and you have to agree in writing on who pays for the shared portion. If that agreement is not in the lease, ask for it.
Two weeks before the move. Providers often need a few days' notice, and starting early means you are not moving into a home with no power.
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