Can a landlord charge for utilities that were never billed?
Probably. Illinois has a 10 year statute of limitations on debts in written contracts, 5 years on oral contract, 5 years on credit card debt without a written contract (by court decision). If the lease doesnt specifically mention a billing cycle, then its really up in the air. Unspecified billing cycle is unspecified. You may have statutory requirements for billing such things in your jurisdiction, and it can vary by city or county. You should check your local statutes or contact your local tenants association, because theyve certainly had to deal with this before. If the service is not separately metered, then its reasonable to believe you owe at least something, but youd have to check to be sure. Typically this is why utilities that are separately metered get put in the tenants name: then its between the tenant and the utility company, rather than something that has to be figured out and potentially argued about. Ideally (20/20 hindsight) you probably should have been asking for billing information monthly so that you wouldnt end up getting a large surprise, all at once. Utilities can end up being pretty substantial. over a year and a half like that.