Reply #43: Huh? I never said landlords were 'required' to pay utility bills in Michigan...

[Cal Carpenter]

Although I have been a renter in 2 places in Michigan (one of which was a house, one was an apt) where the utilities were rolled into the rent and the landlord actually paid the bills.

According to that article the illegal connection had been set up for 'months' - that article and another one I read make it seem likely that the illegal hookup was already established when the family moved in. There is a lot of speculation about what happened and a lot we don't know for sure. I don't want to repeat myself too much, please see my most recent post above for more of where I'm coming from here.

ETA: ANY responsible landlord in Michigan is going to be aware if the power is on because if it isn't then pipes can freeze and do a lot of damage. Another reason I think there is more to this story and this illegal hookup.