Am I responsible for previous tenants' bills?

Am I responsible for previous tenants' bills?

Kate Faulkner (Property Consultant) gives expert video advice on: What do I do if there is a problem with the property?; How do I make sure I am not being ripped off?; What do I do if I can't afford the rent? and more...

Ideally, you shouldn't be responsible for previous tenants' bills. The most important thing is to make sure that doesn't happen to you is that in the tenancy agreement you're indeed only an inventory. For any utility bills that have meter readings you take down the meter reading on the day that you take over the tenancy agreement, and you do the same on the day that you leave. Make sure that you put all of these in writing to relevant utility companies. And, for your telephone bill, make sure you advise the telephone company in writing the day you're taking over that bill and the day that you finish being responsible for that bill. That way you should avoid ever being liable for other tenants bills.