Landlord won't say yes or no on an EV charger for my rented townhouse — trying to find out who pays if it happens
Two years into renting this townhouse and I've been fine doing public charging plus a slow trickle off a regular outlet in the carport for the Bolt. My carport spot is maybe fifteen feet from the electrical panel closet for the unit, but there's no outlet anywhere near it, just the one inside the garage that the porch light runs off. That math worked when my commute was short. It stopped working a few months ago when the pharmacy chain moved me to a satellite location across town — more miles, more charging stops, more time I don't have.
I mentioned it to the property management company in passing and got "you'd probably need HOA sign-off for anything involving the panel," and then nothing for a month when I followed up. I'm about to send an actual written request instead of just asking in the hallway, but I don't know what I'm asking for exactly. Is there anything that says they can't just say no? And if they say yes, am I on the hook for every dollar of it — install, the electrician, the electricity itself — or is any of that negotiable? Trying to go in informed instead of just hoping they're reasonable.
Filed under: Renters, Apartments & HOA Charging
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13 answers
13 ANSWERS
@driftbadgeAugust 21, 2026
Before anyone can give you real advice — what state are you in? That matters a lot here, since right-to-charge protections aren't uniform and some states have nothing on the books at all. Also worth clarifying: is the HOA a separate entity from your landlord (landlord owns the unit, HOA governs the common parking/carport area), or is the property management company effectively acting as both? And is that carport circuit already metered to your unit specifically, or is it fed off a common-area panel? The answers change what you're actually negotiating.
@gravelfox88August 29, 2026
Fifteen feet from the panel closet isn't bad as these things go, but don't walk into that HOA conversation with a guess. Get a licensed electrician out for an actual written estimate first — even a rough one. Whether that run is surface conduit or has to go through a finished wall changes the number a lot, and panel capacity matters too if that closet is already loaded up. Bringing a real number to the table beats bringing a hope that it 'shouldn't be too bad.' Boards and property managers negotiate off numbers, not vibes.
One thing to flag while this is being sorted out with the HOA: don't bridge the gap with an interior extension cord run out to the carport as a stopgap. That's a real fire and shock hazard outdoors, especially anywhere it can collect water or get stepped on. If you need something in the meantime while the request is pending, a portable Level 1 EVSE plugged directly into a proper GFCI-protected outdoor outlet is the only acceptable stopgap — not a household extension cord rated for a lamp, not a splitter.
A handful of states now have some version of a tenant "right to charge" law — California's the best known. California's law if you want the actual language. General idea across these: the landlord can't unreasonably refuse if you cover install, insurance, and electricity, and use a licensed contractor — they're not paying for any of it. If your state doesn't have one, check your regular landlord-tenant code anyway, there's often still something there. Whatever happens, get two things in writing regardless of what law applies: who owns the charger after you move out, and how your electricity gets metered separately from rent. WenStorm's townhouse install guide has more on the cost-split question if you want it.
Did almost exactly this two winters ago. The email that specifically named my state's charging law got a real response within a week — the verbal ask before that sat ignored for over a month, same as OP's situation. Also asked for written confirmation they wouldn't hold the wiring against my deposit when I eventually move out. Glad I got that in email instead of assuming it was understood.
@rustpetalAugust 26, 2026
Following this because I've got a version of the same question, apartment complex rather than a townhouse HOA. If I pay for the install myself, does the charger become the landlord's property once it's on the wall, or can I take it with me when I leave and just cap the wiring? Nobody in my leasing office could give me a straight answer when I asked.
Never got a straight answer on that from my leasing office either, when I asked about the exact same thing.
@copperleaf_wAugust 28, 2026
When you take this to the HOA, consider offering a lower-amperage, load-managed circuit rather than asking for the biggest charger you can buy. That's basically what I did in my own condo retrofit — a load-managed setup was a much easier yes from the board than a full-capacity ask would have been, because it doesn't force them to worry about whether the building's electrical service has headroom. Ask upfront what capacity the property's main service actually has before you decide what to request.
Two different things are getting mixed together here — whether the install itself is allowed, and how the electricity gets metered afterward. If that carport circuit isn't separately metered to her unit, she should push for a dedicated meter or submeter as part of the approval, not after the fact. Otherwise she's either pulling off common-area power that isn't hers, or the landlord's stuck guessing at a flat monthly number that won't match what she's actually using.
@maplebuttonAugust 27, 2026
Get every single 'yes' in an email, not a hallway nod. Landlords have a remarkable ability to forget verbal approvals right around move-out time, exactly when someone's asking who authorized cutting into the electrical panel.
@threadneedleSeptember 04, 2026
I gave up asking my landlord after a few months of being ignored and just built public charging into my routine instead. Not telling OP to quit — sounds like there's real leverage here with the law on her side — just saying it's worth having a fallback plan so the charging itself doesn't stall out while the request sits in someone's inbox.
@duskbuttonAugust 21, 2026
Made this exact mistake at a place I rented years back. Got a verbal okay, paid an electrician out of pocket, and when I moved out the landlord tried to claim the charger stayed since it was 'attached to the house.' Ended up a whole back-and-forth I could have avoided with two sentences in an email up front about who keeps the equipment. Learn from my dumb version of this.
@ashwillow_tSeptember 04, 2026
This is a lot more useful than what I got out of property management in a month, thank you. Plan is: look up my actual state's law tonight, get a written estimate from an electrician like gravelfox88 suggested before I say anything official, and put together one request that covers the install, the metering, and what happens to the equipment when I eventually move out — instead of doing this in three separate emails like I was about to. Will update once I hear back from the HOA.
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