am i obligated to pay additional utilities per my lease?

my boyfriend and i have been renting a home from our landlord since october of 2008. the agreement had been that we were to pay $750 a month for rent and an additional $200 a month for utilities for a total of $950 a month. prior to us signing the lease i had asked to put the utilities in our names so that there would be no problems but the landlord said that he couldn't because of his mortgage agreement or loan... whatever it was. We just signed a lease for our second year and now, several months into the lease he is coming after us for more money for utilities. when we negotiated the second lease he had said that everything would stay the same (which should have meant that we'd continue to pay $950 a month). now he wants more money. my mother had a leasing agent take a look at our lease and they said that technically it's written wrong and we're really not obligated to pay more. any lawyers or leasing specialists out there that agree or disagree? here's the exact writing on the lease (which was done by him, not a lawyer or professional): 9. UTILITIES. Tenant shall pay for all utilities services during the Lease Term and connection charges and deposits for activating existing utility connections to the Premises except for "water, sewer, trash, electric (not to exceed $200 total)" that the Landlord agrees to provide at Landlord's expense. *the part in " " is what he filled in. If i'm wrong i'll be more than happy to pay the guy but i just don't understand why he's all the sudden coming after us for more money several months into the second year lease when he states that we've been over the $200 all along - shouldn't he have gone up on the rent? please advise.

He wrote a stupid provision in the original lease and you agreed to it. The thing is, he put a maximum of $200 on it. You could have been growing hydroponically, running fans, staying up all night, leaving the refrigerator door opening and doing many things to overspend what his intention was.

The proper way was to use a base-line and you would have paid for any overages, not to exceed $200.

Now you don't have to pay him anything more simply because he asks for it. However, you are well into completing your second year there and if you wish to stay, you and he are going to have to get along. So, don't make a huge issue of it and lose the war for this small battle.

Have him show you that he is justified in asking for the increase as a function of these services being more expensive. Good luck.

Landlord

What's likely happening is a big increase in your utilities, perhaps running a/c's due to this terribly hot summer... Either way, you are not liable to pay any more than the $200 as stated in your lease. I think he's annoyed with the bill, which is understandable, but it's nobodys fault but his own for enforcing a $200 monthly limit.. He nipped himself in the bud on that..

If the lease states that you shall pay no more than $200 per month for utilities, he cannot just change the amount unless you agree to it. That is why you have a lease. It protects you from the landlord changing his mind or raising the rent etc.

I have to say though, don't expect your lease to be renewed when it is up.