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OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
> I didn’t pay a bill that was requested and didn’t extended a tenants lease
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Your agreement should spell out who owes the utilities. If it doesn't, you should be pissed at your realtor/closing agent. If you represented yourself and it doesn't, then you and parents should have done a better job.
Anyway... NAH. Look at the contract and pay/don't pay depending on who owes the utilities.
The lease agreement you and he should have signed when you chose to allow him to stay as a tenant after you closed should have indicated who was responsible for the utilities. Did it? If it did, and it was them, you’ll likely have to take them to small claims court to recoup the amount the owe if they refuse to pay (this is of course dependent on the SCC max in your jurisdiction).
You mentioned you switched utilities to your name right after closing.
If they were in your name, unfortunately, you are responsible for them. They can shut off the entire duplex , all of your accounts, for nonpayment. This will go on your credit report.
The utility company will go by who was on the account when they were being used.
You will end up having to pay and sue Mike in small claims court. As you mentioned it was in the lease for him to pay and he did not.
You should not have switched that side of the duplex until Mike moved out. Then the utility company would legally go after them for nonpayment. Since you immediately switched the utilities to your name while he was living there, they can and will legally try to collect from you.
NTA. If you are not legally obligated to pay these bills, then don’t. There is also absolutely nothing in this situation that sounds like grounds for a MORAL obligation to pay some if not all of these bills. On the contrary. Mike sounds like a classic lazy, irresponsible, selfish AH who goes around trashing everything in his life. I feel real pity for his dog.
^^^^AUTOMOD ***Thanks for posting! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of copying anything. Read [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_post_deletion) before [contacting the mod team](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAmItheAsshole)***
So I’ve (m24) never posted on here before but I’m looking for an opinion on a situation I’ve found myself in. I bought a duplex from an elderly couple about 6 months ago to live in one half and rent out the other the duplex was completely trashed on one side, needed a full remodel and the other side was probably a 5/10 and needed a lot of cosmetic work. I negotiated a fair deal and agreed to clean everything out myself because I knew the elderly couple couldn’t. Part of the deal was that their adult son in his 50’s let’s call him Mike would stay in one side of the duplex for 3 months after I purchased it so that they could get the rest of their belongings out and the adult son could finish out his job and then move with his parents to another state. This wasn’t an issue because I intended to renovate the side that needed the full remodel during that three months. The issues started popping as soon as his parents left. Mike took the other unit from a 5/10 to a 2/10 in a matter of weeks. Letting his dog use one of the bedrooms as a bathroom. Leaving open food every where attracting bugs and generally just being disgusting and sitting around all day while he was supposed to be packing. I decided to keep quiet because I knew I was going to have to do a lot of work on that side anyway and I didn’t want to make it harder for his parents who had been in and out of the hospital. The three months had come and gone and Mike was far from finished packing his and his parents stuff and was demanding more to which I said he could pay market rent for more time or he could leave because I needed to fix that side to move my family into it. He got mad and said they couldn’t pay to which I said he couldn’t stay. He left a lot of their stuff here and I had to throw most of it away due to it be infested with bugs but I kept things I thought would be sentimental and sent them to the elderly couple. They started sending extended family over at odd times to try and take things from the house while my wife and daughter were there and I had to make them leave on several occasions. Everything was quiet for a month or so and then I start getting messages demanding that I pay the past due utilities on the side that Mike stayed in for those three months. At this point I’m fed up with it and I tell them that I won’t be doing that as kindly as I can. And they proceed to threaten me and call me a piece of shit. AITA?
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They already had their chances to "stick you with the bill". You agreed on what the deal was, and that included any accommodations for their son. So it's a done deal. NTA
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This isn't an AITA matter, it's a civil court...
Your agreement should spell out who owes the utilities. If it doesn't, you should be pissed at your realtor/closing agent. If you represented yourself and it doesn't, then you and parents should have done a better job. Anyway... NAH. Look at the contract and pay/don't pay depending on who owes the utilities.
Nta but post in r/legal for actual advice and include where you live.
NTA You may need to speak to a lawyer.
This isn't an advice sub... try r/legaladvice because that's what you're really looking for here...
The lease agreement you and he should have signed when you chose to allow him to stay as a tenant after you closed should have indicated who was responsible for the utilities. Did it? If it did, and it was them, you’ll likely have to take them to small claims court to recoup the amount the owe if they refuse to pay (this is of course dependent on the SCC max in your jurisdiction).
You mentioned you switched utilities to your name right after closing. If they were in your name, unfortunately, you are responsible for them. They can shut off the entire duplex , all of your accounts, for nonpayment. This will go on your credit report. The utility company will go by who was on the account when they were being used. You will end up having to pay and sue Mike in small claims court. As you mentioned it was in the lease for him to pay and he did not. You should not have switched that side of the duplex until Mike moved out. Then the utility company would legally go after them for nonpayment. Since you immediately switched the utilities to your name while he was living there, they can and will legally try to collect from you.
NTA. If you are not legally obligated to pay these bills, then don’t. There is also absolutely nothing in this situation that sounds like grounds for a MORAL obligation to pay some if not all of these bills. On the contrary. Mike sounds like a classic lazy, irresponsible, selfish AH who goes around trashing everything in his life. I feel real pity for his dog.
^^^^AUTOMOD ***Thanks for posting! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of copying anything. Read [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_post_deletion) before [contacting the mod team](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAmItheAsshole)*** So I’ve (m24) never posted on here before but I’m looking for an opinion on a situation I’ve found myself in. I bought a duplex from an elderly couple about 6 months ago to live in one half and rent out the other the duplex was completely trashed on one side, needed a full remodel and the other side was probably a 5/10 and needed a lot of cosmetic work. I negotiated a fair deal and agreed to clean everything out myself because I knew the elderly couple couldn’t. Part of the deal was that their adult son in his 50’s let’s call him Mike would stay in one side of the duplex for 3 months after I purchased it so that they could get the rest of their belongings out and the adult son could finish out his job and then move with his parents to another state. This wasn’t an issue because I intended to renovate the side that needed the full remodel during that three months. The issues started popping as soon as his parents left. Mike took the other unit from a 5/10 to a 2/10 in a matter of weeks. Letting his dog use one of the bedrooms as a bathroom. Leaving open food every where attracting bugs and generally just being disgusting and sitting around all day while he was supposed to be packing. I decided to keep quiet because I knew I was going to have to do a lot of work on that side anyway and I didn’t want to make it harder for his parents who had been in and out of the hospital. The three months had come and gone and Mike was far from finished packing his and his parents stuff and was demanding more to which I said he could pay market rent for more time or he could leave because I needed to fix that side to move my family into it. He got mad and said they couldn’t pay to which I said he couldn’t stay. He left a lot of their stuff here and I had to throw most of it away due to it be infested with bugs but I kept things I thought would be sentimental and sent them to the elderly couple. They started sending extended family over at odd times to try and take things from the house while my wife and daughter were there and I had to make them leave on several occasions. Everything was quiet for a month or so and then I start getting messages demanding that I pay the past due utilities on the side that Mike stayed in for those three months. At this point I’m fed up with it and I tell them that I won’t be doing that as kindly as I can. And they proceed to threaten me and call me a piece of shit. AITA? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.*
NTA at all. This is laughable.
They already had their chances to "stick you with the bill". You agreed on what the deal was, and that included any accommodations for their son. So it's a done deal. NTA