Electric service reinstatement

Have an interesting situation - a mobile home owner in our park had his electric service shutoff in September due to non-payment. He talked a neighbor in the park to share their electricity via an extension cord - when he finally paid his bill and requested to have his service turned back on recently, the electric company saw the extension cord and not only did not restore his service but removed the meter and is demanding that in order to restore service, an inspection will need to be performed, which will then require the electrical service to be upgraded (from 60 to 100 amp). So due to his non-payent I’m looking at a bill of over $700 to upgrade/inspect the service.

Any recourse with the mobile home owner?

Sounds like a perfect question for an attorney. I’m not an attorney (but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night (:P)), but I do think you have recourse to the tenant for damages. That said, $700 is a lot of money for most residents; you may need to negotiate a payment plan of $50/month or so.

Good luck, and let us know what your attorney says,

-jl-