Withheld utility bills and broken AC driving up utility bills. What do I do?
TLDR: How many months worth of late utility bills can my landlord drop on me, and can I avoid paying high utility bills that are high because the equipment isn't working properly?
So my landlord has a habit of sending me 3 months of utility bills at once. I don't like it, but I've been gritting my teeth and paying.
In early July, my AC started acting up. It seems to have a refrigerant leak and is only cooling air about 10 degrees F, and my landlords were informed that it needs replacing. They refuse to get a qualified person to do the job, and want their handyman hack to do it cheap. He got sick and hasn't been able to do the job yet.
I live in the basement of a 4 bedroom duplexed house (4 bedrooms upstairs, 1 downstairs) with no control of the AC. Since the AC still does cool somewhat, it's been running all the time trying to cool the house, and I was worried my electricity bill would be real high. Well, I got my bill for July and it's $260.
7 people recently moved in upstairs, so I'm sure that contributes to the number somewhat, but my HVAC buddy is confident that that number is seriously increased by the broken AC.
I've heard that a landlord can't withhold bills long enough that dropping them on you all at once would create an unreasonable financial burden. Does the fact that my landlord has refused to fix my AC, running up the utility bill, plus 3 bills being dropped on me at once justify refusing to pay all but my most recent bill?
If there are any relevant pieces of legislation that y'all could cite, that'd be so so appreciated. Thanks everybody 🙏🙏🙏