Landlords And The Gas Co.- I Wish I Had Known

Today I called both the electric company and the gas company to get service put in to my name after my tenants move out. Both companies were extremely busy, of course. The electric company had a recording which said it would call me back in 52 minutes. I left my name and number and an automated service called me back and then connected me with a real person. That was much better than staying on hold for 52 minutes.

Since the electrical service can only be started on week days I decided to have it started on Friday. My tenants aren't leaving until Saturday but I would rather have electricity on Saturday and Sunday than wait to have it connected on Monday. I have a lot of work to do and I need electricity.

Next, I called the gas company. My tenants accidentally transferred their gas service to their new house a few weeks earlier so they have been without gas for a while. Supposedly, they couldn't afford to pay the connection fee to have it turned on again. I'm not sure I want to know what they are doing without hot water.

The recording for the gas company said that they were very busy and I should use their online forms. I filled the form out online and submitted my request for next Monday. I don't mind if I don't have gas service on Sunday since I won't be staying there overnight. I got an email from them a little later saying that I needed to go to the gas co. office and bring proof of ownership for the house and a picture ID.

Ok, no problem. I printed a page from the property tax records and went in to the office which was very crowded. The clerk processed my order including a $38 connection fee and then told me about a form for landlords. This form, when on file with the gas company, waives the connection fee for landlords. Darn, I wish I had known that. I could have saved $38. Well, I will fill it out so that next time I don't have to prove that I own the property and I won't have to pay the connection fee. I'm still new to this landlord business.