My daughter has a one-year lease in a single family home in California, where she was renting two rooms and had kitchen/laundry privileges, and the owner lived in the rest of the house. After six months, the house was foreclosed on and the owner moved out last month as required by the bank.

The bank has given my daughter until the end of this month to move, but she is asking for an extension because she won't be able to purchase her condo until the end of May.

My daughter and her 8-year-old son returned home last night to find out that PG&E had turned off the power. PG&E told her that the only way they'd turn the power back on was if she put the service in her name and paid the outstanding bill of over $500! She can't do that, and PG&E says they won't do anything for her, even though they understand there is a minor in the house.

Is there anything she can do to get power?

She will have to pay the bill in order to get it turned back on. There is no other way around power companies as they do not wish to be stuck with an even bigger bill just because she wants to live in the home until her condo closes.

This is a hard one. Since she is living there on the sufferance of the bank, she has little recourse. I would talk to the local Public Services commission

Doesn't the fact that there's a minor in the house have any bearing? I thought California tenants rights were very strong, but the offices for these groups are closed over the weekend.

I don't think that having a child in the home will hold any water in this situation. Check with those agencies on Monday for further clarification.

The bottom line is the power company does not want to get stuck with any more charges. If your daughter was living in the home and she is the one who actually used the electricity, then why don't you feel she should have to pay for what services she used? She sure had enough money to purchase a condo, then I'm sure she can pay to have the power turned back on. I would look at your situation a bit differently but when it came up that she wants to still live there at her convenience due to buying another place to live, then she has a choice of either paying for the past due power bill or moving out into another place until her condo closes. Crying poor her doesn't cut it with me, sorry. If you feel so strongly about it why don't you chip in for the past due bill?

One can live without electricity. Happens all the time. The public services commission should have someone manning phones 24/7. Your daughter was aware that she would have to move for awhile. Its unfortunate that the living arrangement was such that the utility wants her to pay the arrears. I think she can fight that part, but it will take some time.

Twinkiedooter,

Wow, what a vicious response. Of course she would be willing to pay for the time she is in the house now, but her rent (which she is still paying, although that has nothing to do with what I asked) is supposed to include utilities. Therefore, she has been paying for services while she lived there, her landlord just didn't bother to pay the utilities. Also not germane to the issue but you brought it up: she'll just barely be able to afford a very small condo in a not-great area, so she will not have any money left over to pay for services which she already covered in her rent these past six months. I am not in a financial position to pay for the bill, either, if it matters, nor do I live in the same state as she. I was just trying to get some information for her (since she has no power, she can't use her computer herself).

I was hoping that someone knowledgeable about California tenant law would be able to shed some non-judgemental light on this for us.

This was my first time posting to this site. If this is the type of snippy, non-responsive answer I can expect, I don't think I'm interested in posting in the future.

The problem here is that the lease became void when the property was foreclosed on. Therefore, she can't claim that the rent includes utilities. She can try this, but I don't think it will work. The problem is that she is living there on borrowed time and the bank does not have to offer any consideration.

But again, nothing can be done here until you contact the proper authorities.

As for your other post. Sometimes a post sets someone off for a variety of reasons. If you feel a post violated the rules of this site please use the Report link.

On the plus side, she was not suppose to be paying any rent on a foreclosed property in California, from the time the loan went into default, she can sue the landlord for her rent money back.

Also if the bank does not legally own the house yet ( foreclosure not actually transferred ownership yet) she does not have to pay any rent till it does.

Once the home changes ownership, her lease is void, period, so any agreement with the bank ( new owner) is under their terms.

If the old tenant still owns the home, she could try and sue them in court to provide the electric, but it will take weeks, if not months to get this though the courts.

The law Chuck refers to (see the sticky note on top of this forum) MIGHT be applicable to her. She might be able to sue the landord for rent she paid, in the first year of the lease if he did not use it to play the mortgage.

But once the property was foreclosed on, she remains there under the forebearance of the new owner ond under their terms.

Twinkiedooter,

Wow, what a vicious response. Of course she would be willing to pay for the time she is in the house now, but her rent (which she is still paying, although that has nothing to do with what I asked) is supposed to include utilities. Therefore, she has been paying for services while she lived there, her landlord just didn't bother to pay the utilities. Also not germane to the issue but you brought it up: she'll just barely be able to afford a very small condo in a not-great area, so she will not have any money left over to pay for services which she already covered in her rent these past six months. I am not in a financial position to pay for the bill, either, if it matters, nor do I live in the same state as she. I was just trying to get some information for her (since she has no power, she can't use her computer herself).

I was hoping that someone knowledgeable about California tenant law would be able to shed some non-judgemental light on this for us.

This was my first time posting to this site. If this is the type of snippy, non-responsive answer I can expect, I don't think I'm interested in posting in the future.


If she is still paying rent to the bank, then the BANK should be covering the delinquent electric bill. Have her complain to the bank to provide the utilities. This way they will be responsible for the past bill. They are allowing her to stay until May, so they should cooperate with her on this as they are still getting some kind of income from the rental house. She should have negotiated the utilities into her short lease or agreement with the bank but obviously didn't think it mattered.

And to reiterate, if she had enough money to supposedly "scrape together" for a condo, I still stand by my supposedly previously stated "vicious" response. Or she can move to a motel for the remaining time. It's not the end of the world having electric service.