My original lease stated that the tenants were responsible for the utilities, but the landlord put out an addendum which I signed with the following wording:
Not withstanding(sic) the lease rate with:
NAME (the tenants)
The tenant(s) in addition to the monthly rent, agree to pay an additional $45.00 per person per month for the following utilities:
Water
Heating
Gas
Air Conditioning
Electricity
InternetAll utilities must be used for normal household purposes and must not be wasted. In the event where a monthly utility bill reflects abuse of usage, the entire suite will be charged the difference. Abuse is defined as an overage of usage by 15% of the building average.
The tenant(s) shall pay BUILDING MANAGEMENT COMPANY on the FIRST day of every month during the lease term. It is agreed that the Landlord's Agent shall have the same remedies in the case of default in payment of any of the above as in the case of non-payment of rent.
LANDLORD'S AGENT
signatureTENANTS
signature
The landlord claims that this was never intended to be a long-term solution, and that it is not part of my original lease so they don't have to honor it. They're trying to force me to sign a new utilities agreement under the threat of shutting down the power. I've called the Landlord Tenant Board, and I understand my recourse if I'm legally in the right.
Who is correct here? Does the addendum supersede the original lease, or can the landlord just claim the original lease requires me to cover utilities and ignore the addendum? Does this change if I'm transferring the lease?