With inflation at a 13-year high, energy prices are reaching devastating levels and are expected to worsen as we move into the winter months.

Crude oil has risen 66 percent this year, heating oil has risen 86 percent, natural gas prices have almost tripled, and gasoline is up a dollar per gallon nationwide. Finally, those that use propane can expect to pay 550 percent more than this time last year.

These prices affect everyone including apartment owners. With all that has occurred over the past 18 months, some landlords have told me they are barely hanging on. The threat of skyrocketing utilities now has them concerned they may have to sell their property. Even buildings with individual meters for gas and electricity often have a master meter for water, which is generally the costliest of all utilities and is paid by the owner. Further exasperating the situation in some major cities is rent control as well as pandemic-related eviction moratoriums. ...