An Apartment Complex I Never Got Accepted To Live In Is Trying To Force Me To Pay 4 Months Of Electricity, What Legal Action Can I Take To Make Sure They Take Financial Responsibility For That Empty Unit?

location: tucson az. (*5 months, aug-dec, $500) okay so in 2024, i applied to live at an apartment complex. my move in date was pretty much immediate, and the leasing agent was so sure that i would get accepted, she told me to set up my account with TEP (electric service) right away. this was my first ever apartment, so i didn’t know any better, and i went ahead and made the TEP account. well it turns out that i got denied for living in the apartment, but i didn’t know to cancel with TEP, i thought it was the apartment’s responsibility to deal with billing for that empty unit. now, starting service at another apartment i currently live in, im about to pay my first monthly bill, but TEP is demanding that i pay the old overdue amount for that apartment i never lived in. i’ve been in communication with TEP and the apartment office itself, and the office is demanding that i pay it, that since i made the account i legally have to pay it, not them (even though i never lived there and was denied to live there). i made a google search and it seems that it’s illegal for them to force me to pay and not take financial responsibility themselves for the electricity at that empty unit i never lived in, and i can take it to the attorney general here in tucson. i requested that the office manager send me all the proof that i never lived in that unit, and he said he would by the end of today. im hoping to use that proof, as well as all my communications with TEP, to take to the attorney general office and file some sort of legal complaint and force the apartment company to take that financial responsibility since they won’t comply with just me. do i need a lawyer? does anyone have any suggestions on what i should do or if i can do anything? i don’t have any money to advance too much legally in court, i’ve never dealt with legal stuff like this before, so any advice would be greatly appreciated!