I've been wondering why my gas bill has been so high this winter (over $600 for 2 months). I called up the gas company and they sent over an investigator. It's turns out that i have an ancient 17,500 boiler that wastes alot of gas firing up a <1000 sq ft apartment-which sucks. I did this because I was afraid I was paying for the gas for the people below me, or possibly the people below them(its 2 apt and a storefront, and the store is "Rented" by my landlords son, who is a lawyer...supposidly.)

It turns out I am only paying for my own heat, but im actually paying for the hot water as well. Its clearly outlined, in my lease, that the landlord will pay for hot water.

What steps to i take now? He's been really creepy ever since 2 months or so after we moved in. Can we use this violation of the lease to help us get out earlier? Who do i report it to? Do i take him to court? Do i write him a letter first?

He came in our apartment once with another guy, after he knocked 3 times, because he said he might have turned off our electricity in our kitchen and "didnt want our food to go bad in the fridge". I wrote him a letter, apologizing for the mess (just clothes on the floor, during midterms..) and now I'm sorry I ever did. He didn't respond. Also, my mails been open in my mail box (my BANK STATEMENTS), and I was told hes not supposed to have a key to this...I'm sure he does, since he responded to our xmas card with one of his own, and it was in the box, with no stamp..

My lease ends on October 1st, and I'd really like to get out of here with my security. I'd also like to request $100 each month, for the hot water he was SUPPOSEd to be paying...

ANYTHING would really help. Don't know what to do next :(

Thanks..

Jo

Forgot ot mention..this isin NY, Brooklyn..

Check the landlord tenant laws for your state, also any correspondence to landlord about this problem should be in writing, and always make a copy of everything you send to him for your own personal records...otherwise he can always say it is your word against his, and he can say you never mentioned anything to him. (Protect Yourself) Documentation is always good.

As far as the mailbox goes...It is a FEDERAL Offense to open up your mail/ bank statements. What you can do is contact your local post office that delivers to your mailbox, they will have the Postal master do a investigation and they WILL if they have to do a stakeout to catch the person who is tampering with your mailbox. Also they can and will change your mailbox key if need be.
I had the same problem...maintenance man was opening up bank statements, credit card statements, and cards sent during holidays looking for money.
I went to the rental offie they told me that the main key was kept at another location and no one has access to it but them. Called postal master...he did investigation and changed my key for mailbox,...the rent office told me that i needed to give them a copy of new key...and i laughed and said yeah right...and just to let you know i never gave them a copy of my mailbox key, but i didn't have that problem anymore.
But i was complaining about my new neighbors(different state now) and they retaliated by ripping my mailbox open 3 times...i told the rent office, they did nothing until i went in there the last time and threatened to call the postal office and postal master (FEDERAL CRIME)...WOW, can you believe it....mailbox was not tampered with since.

Your problem is that you cannot tell how much of the bill is for heat and how much for hot water, so you need some proof of that from the gas company. That aside, gas went up everywhere so that is commonly known news. At this point, the only thing I think you might be able to do is just stop using the gas and that would force the landlord to pay for water heating if you are not using gas heat at all. Many people have gone out and gotten space heaters because of how high gas has gone to use for heat. I suggest that you talk to the utility ocmpany but also to a local attorney for ideas about how to deal with this situation.