August 02, 2012|Janet Portman | Rent It Right
Q: I just bought an electric car, which needs to be charged every night. I have an assigned place in the garage in my apartment building, which is conveniently next to an outlet. I’ve been using an extension cord to plug the car in at night, but have just been told that I can’t do this anymore. My lease doesn’t say anything about not accessing the outlets. Aren’t I allowed to do it?
A: It does seem rather unsporting of your landlord to stymie your attempts to keep an environmentally friendly car charged up. But I think management is within its rights to say no. Here’s why.
Your lease doubtless says something like, “Tenant will have one parking space in the garage, assigned by management.” You’re suggesting that because it doesn’t explicitly forbid you from also using a nearby outlet, you should be allowed to do so. But with only a little effort, you can see why this argument won’t hold up. The lease cannot list every possible use of the parking space and surrounding space and disallow them.
Landlord pulls the plug on electric car charging
I have been featured on Channel 7 On Your Side in San Francisco twice. I rent an apartment and have an assigned parking spot with an electrical outlet less than 3 feet from my Volt. I to have been refused access to the outlet by my landlord. I told them I would pay for the electricity. In addition, I have offered, at my expence, to have a licensed electrical contractor certify the outlet and install a meter for billing purposes. All offers have been refused by management. I now plan to get the Mayor and members of the Board of Supervisors involved. I believe no landlord has a right to prevent a tenant access to an existing electrical outlet in order to charge their vehicle.