We rented out an apartment to a big Israeli security company. They used it to house some of their security guards.
They paid a flat fee for rent and then added a specific amount each month to cover utility bills – which we then paid. The contract stated that a calculation of the meter would be made every four months to calculate utilities and adjustments to the utility payments would be made as necessary.
However, this was a huge company, and they weren’t really interested in spending time over – for them – small change. They never made the estimation, never asked us to make the estimation. They gave us twelve checks in advance for the whole year, including both rent and utilities, and were happy not to be bothered further.
There were a few months of the rental period that they did not actually use the apartment and did not use utilities, so we ended up with a substantial overpayment. Meanwhile, the rental period and contract finished. The security company never asked questions, everything ended well.
This all happened quite a while ago, but I would like to close the file.
Is there any reason to think that we are not obligated to return this money to the company? ie. despite what it says in the contract, they gave head checks without any means of adjusting the rent etc.
Thank you
Answer:
If the agreement was that they are responsible to figure out the difference and ask for a refund, and they chose not to do so, you would not be responsible to correct the amounts. However if there were months when no utilities were used at all, and those checks were complete over payment, this money should be returned.
