Garage Apartments-electric

[Alejandro]

I have a garage apartment in Jacksonville,Fl which is at the rear of the main house.Two living units on one property.I have my disabled brother in the garage apartment,and for years I have rented the front unit.I have one electric line to both units,and I had a verbal agreement with the lady that rented the front to compensate her for my brothers electric.Long story short she called code enforcment about the common electric line even though we had an agreement.I could get another Electric meter to legally get him back in,but could I with the new renters leave the electric in my name,and include the cost in the lease agreement? If this will not work what will short of adding a meter etc?

Jim Huber

[Ealadhach]

You may have several issues to deal with, some code related, some not. Your municipality will be the one to tell you what has to be done to be in compliance with their codes, and what law you have violated, if any.  The electric metering is one issue, hopefully you don't also have zoning violations an other issues as well. In terms of most codes, the occupants of a unit must have access to the overcurrent devices protecting their electric circuits.  In other words, as a tenant, she must be able to access the electric panel box if one of her circuit breakers trips.  If the main panel is elsewhere, and there is not a subpanel in her unit controlling her circuits, that could be the issue more so that having a separate meter. You also have utility company requirements which may have to be met(like if they require a separate meter in each living unit). Consumer laws may come into play here also as it relates to billing for utilities. Landlord-Tenant laws may apply.  I'm not familiar with Florida law, and apologize for muddying the waters for you by bringing up issues more involved that your question, but you need to know exactly what all the issues are before you can arrive at a plan to correct the problem.

If the issue is billing her properly for the power used(does she feel cheated in that she's paying too much of the bill?), then separate meters or including electric in the rent appear to be the answer.  If you receive a notice of a code violation from the municipality, then securing the services of an electrician to find you the most cost effective method of code compliance is the way to go. If you have a zoning violation because the property is not zoned for multifamily rentals, then attempting to obtain a variance from the zoning hearing board(or equivalent government body) must be considered, or house only family members if that's permitted. You may need legal advice.

I wish I had a short easy solution for you, but I don't. The best long term solution to your question is to be sure your operation is legal, then bite the bullet, and install a separate meter and panel for each unit. Be sure you have the legally required smoke detectors and safety items also.

Good luck!