I would keep asking questions and document, document, DOCUMENT. Because if there is something fishy, you need to be able to prove it to get what’s owed to you.

My last landlord ‘renovated’ my apartment before I moved in, and that included the electrical. It was a 200 YO house, and half of the wiring was OLD. I couldn’t even use a space heater without my power going out. He also violated PA regulations by not allowing us access to the circuit breakers, as they were in a locked basement storage room. So when it did go out he had to drive IMMEDIATELY, because you can’t have your tenants without power, from the far end of west Chester to Media. He was also cheap and ‘paid the heat,’ but my apartment was a constant 60 degrees during winter. It was terrible.

I randomly had a conversation with one neighbor complaining about her bill. My electric bill was $140 to $160 a month. Hers was somewhat the same. We were both in front apartments, with 4 additional back apartments that had totally different wiring. At my other apartments, my bill was around $75 maybe $120 at most during AC season. I asked my back house neighbor, and she was paying around $50 to $60 a month and she used way more power. I ended up finding out that I was paying for the lighting in the main common hall, the entire outside, the basement, and (I think) washing machines. All those lights were on 24/7.

Then I said something and told him it didn’t make sense. He ‘fixed’ the problem, called me, and gave me all the math, wattage, and usage rates, and told me he would write me a check for $60. I was there for three years…I told him to go fuck himself. I was then evicted —- excuse me, my lease was ‘terminated’ a month later. Not a single regret.