QUESTION
Am I legally responsible to pay a bill that isn't in my name? Lakeland electric is telling me I am.
Asked on Oct 05th, 2017 on Consumer Law - Florida
More details to this question:
In 2011 I lived with my boyfriend Benjamin. We had a place together, We used Lakeland electric. The bill was in my name, and it was paid off. We broke up, I got my own place and he got his own place. Now, 5 years later they are telling me I can't hook up electric until I pay his bill from 2016 because him and I lived together at one point. They have merged his bill with my new spouses and took our security deposit to pay towards Benjamin's bill. They even said my name is not ok benjamins bill but I am required to pay it because at one point we lived together. Even though the bill he owes money for I was not living at that address. They will not let my current husband hook power up in his name until he pays Benjamin's bill. We have now been without power for a week and I am 7 months pregnant.
1 ANSWER
Consumer Debt Collector Harassment & Abuse Attorney serving Tampa, FL
Partner at
Tischhauser Law Group
2 Awards
"The bill was in my name, and it was paid off. " THIS is where the issue lies. If you have proof of this and that you never had involvment with the ex's new residence, then you will need to bring that to a lawyer to review for a collections violaton. Otherwise, if there was a bill in your name that THEY claim was unpaid OR some form of account transfer to the ex's new place because you signed a lease there, and then broke up or allowed the account transfer to happen, you may be stuck paying for the charges. I have no doubt that they are not claiming you owe the ex's bill 5 years later because you were togeher "at one point" nor could they "merge his bill with your new spouses" as accounts aren't handled that way- there is more to it than that for sure.
Answered on Oct 13th, 2017 at 6:18 AM
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