A Florida man was surprised to find his electric bill was higher than before after moving into a smaller rental. Then he took another look at the “cabin” behind the house.
TikTok founder Nick (@nickharding904) posted a video on October 24 about the issue. “So I moved into this house back in February of 2019,” he says at the beginning of the video. [2025]and electricity prices are already crazy. “
The first bill covered only part of the month and was approximately $200. Nick said his last place was larger and the monthly electric bill never exceeded $150. “Every month after that the bill was between $300 and $400,” he said.
Nick decides to adjust by using less air conditioning, but is surprised to receive another $400 bill. That’s when Nick remembered the cabin-like structure that had been set up across the property line in his backyard. A wire ran from the cabin along the fence line. “What’s going on? Did I pay my neighbor’s electric bill?” Nick asked.
Is this Florida man paying his neighbor’s electric bill?
Nick decided to visit his county’s property appraisal website and discovered that the two units were on the same land. “It’s not listed separately,” he said.
So he decided to call the power company. He said they told him they had no record of that address. So, he called the property management company. A representative confirmed the company manages a property at that address but could not say whether tenants received separate electric bills.
This prompted Nick to conduct an experiment. He walked over to the circuit breaker box and turned off one of the switches. As he suspected, this cut power to the second porch light. “So, what you’re telling me is that for the past eight months, I’ve been working on other people’s [expletive] Utilities? asked Nick, who referred to owner Patel as a “slum lord.”
Before the video ended, he said he would give property management an explanation by next Monday. Beyond that, he said, he plans to escalate the matter to various city departments, including law enforcement.
Audience Reactions to Jacksonville Man’s ‘Ghetto Lord’ Story
In the comments section, viewers weighed in on the situation and offered suggestions on how Nick might choose to proceed.
“Look for permits on the property appraiser’s website to see if there is a permit for the building,” one person said.
Another person said, “This happened to us when we had a fire in our house. It affected the power to the second house. The utility company got involved and the homeowner got into huge trouble for an illegal second rental.”
“The power company should be able to come out and they’ll find out your unit doesn’t have its own meter,” a third viewer wrote. “I don’t know if they can install a separate meter or if they will contact the landowner and they will then be forced to update the meter. It’s likely the landlord knows this and hopes no one will notice. Maybe because another building is not legally located on the property.”
In Florida, landowners can equip each residential unit with its own electric meter, opt for itemized metering (which allows the utility company to charge each tenant an individual usage fee) or use a formula based on occupancy and average energy consumption. However, this arrangement is usually outlined in the lease agreement and not revealed as was the case in Nick’s case.
AllHipHop reached out to Nick for comment via TikTok comments and private messages. This story will be updated if he responds.
@nickharding904 I’m so mad #fyp #slumlord #local #jacksonville ♬ Original Sound – Nick
