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Legal rental??

By anonymous989898

I have been renting a “mother n law” suite that is attached to the main house for 3 months now – in Georgia. There is also a tenant living in the garage that has been converted into a studio like carriage house.. The main house has a completely different address from mine – the street name adjacent to the main road. The tenant in the carriage house and I share the exact same address… All of the breakers, etc are in the main house which I have no access to unless those tenants are home.. My question is, does it sound like this property is zoned in a legal fashion? We do not have fire extinguishers in any of the units either…. Also, the owner is currently advertising the main house for rent and the rent amount includes utilities which have limits per month and if the renter goes over those amounts they are responsible for paying, BUT everyone on the property shares ONE meter. Is that legal?? Any info or guidance would be great!

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Edited on: Sunday, January 19th, 2014 3:39 pm
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3 Responses to “Legal rental??”

My response: (We welcome stories, examples, explanations, answers and a touch of your personality)
 

Randy F.

August 28th, 2008 6:16 am

No offense but it sounds like you’re on a witch hunt against your landlord. You may be renting from a legal non-conforming rental property, or it may be a property that meets the grandfather clause. If it isn’t a legal rental, you could always contact your local zoning office… But that would be dumb! If they find it is a non-legit property, you will be forced out. And I doubt you want to be kicked out. As for sharing a meter, yes that is perfectly legal; many older properties have one meter for dozens of units. If the landlord pays for the cost, great! If you are sharing the meter, you should pay a pro-rated portion of the utility bills based on the size of your renter.

Richard Bagger

August 31st, 2008 7:05 am

What advice are you looking for? Are you wondering if your landlord can charge the tenants for utilities? Yes, as long as it is the actual cost. (Or a pro-rated portion as mentions by the landlord above) Now if you are wondering whether a landlord can share one meter for all of his tenants, the answer is yes. I have yet to see any law that requires the each rental unit to have separate meters.

Sam

September 1st, 2008 7:15 am

Yes, you can have as many units on one meter…

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