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Landlord
I'm a fairly new landlord and I own a multi-family with separate meters. I live in one unit while the tenant lives in the other. The tenant pays for their own utilities with exception of water. This was an inherited tenant and the previous landlord handled the water bill even though there were separate bills so I merely continued the arrangement. The tenant is currently month to month(tenant at will). Lately their water usage has more than doubled which has in turn has doubled the bill. I've spoken to them about it, but they just brush me off. Are there any downsides to pushing their own water bill on them as it's already separately metered? Would it be wiser to just raise the rent to account for greatly increased water usage?
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1st thing have you checked for leaks? including toilet flappers/flush valves?
Sounds like your tenant took in a roommate.
Or started watering the lawn.
I'll be sure to check for this as well. Thanks.
If you find one the water company might refund some of the overage.
Mine required proof that it was fixed and I provided the HD receipt for the fill valve.
Really? I have never seen a water company do this. Its very common for any leak past the meter to be 100% on the owner.
Here is an article on it.
https://www.kiplinger.com/article/real-estate/t029-c011-s003-get-money-back-for-that-leaky-faucet-or-toilet.html
I did not know that. Good to know. Thanks again.
First check to make sure it is not legally required for LLs in your area to pay for water. Many places water and trash are required we provide. If it is not, make sure to give the proper notice time for the change over, but definitely do it. Separate meters are meant for just that. The other thing I do on any non required utilities I provide is set a firm dollar limit in the contract. For example: "Electric will be covered to a maximum of $120 per month. Anything over that is tenant responsibility and is due and payable within 5 business days of notification. A late fee of $50 will apply after the 5th day"
You could also pay the water then bill the tenant
This does change the accounting slightly. Since it's reimbursed, the payment then counts as income. I looked into it as I have water bins I want to move over to the tenant.
Minor difference,
and you still get the tax benefits.... actually I don't remember if that's true. Anyway, worth noting.In my state (CO) pros advised me to keep water in my name. Cuz in this state it’s the only utility that can put lein on property if bill isn’t paid. So just I bill tenant monthly for water usage.
Don’t you love it when the government makes you responsible for your tenant’s bills? As if you are their caretakers just because you rent to them.
I can only imagine there was an excess of tenants leaving their water bill unpaid, then skipping town. Frankly I’d rather the landlord be on the hook than the rest of the consumer base for the water utility. I am more responsible for that water usage than my neighbor!
It’s not the landlord on the hook, it’s the other people they rent to. Just like the water company spreads out the cost to its other customers, so will the landlord.
Remember, whenever one tenant is bad and chooses not to pay, it hurts the rest of the tenants. It increases rents, increases security deposits, decreases the quality of the renovations, etc. 1 bad tenant leaves a much bigger impression than 10 good ones will.
It's the other way around here. They can't do that with water but they can with sewer. So we have water in tenants names and sewer in our names and we give the tenants a copy of the quarterly bill to pay us. We have our tenants paying ALL utilities bc it's a form of cost control.
I am in central MA. Unpaid water bills will result in a lien against my property. I would not leave it up to my tenants to pay.
True, but the alternative is you pay for the water anyway.
Build it into the rent, or have them pay a separate bill to you for the water.
Not in this case. The tenant has their own meter. They need to pay the water company directly.
Yes, in OP’s situation. But you were responding to someone who wasn’t OP, who was saying something generic (so not about OP’s specific situation)…
I think you have to get approved to bill the tenants. https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-law-about-submetering-water-for-tenants
If the utility co is sending 2 bills, it's not a submeter - it's just a meter.
That being said, MA is absolutely insane with tenant protections, so I'd get legal guidance regardless. Obviously, regardless of any additional tenant protections, OP would need to wait til the end of the lease to change the arrangement regarding who pays utilities.
There is no lease. It's just month to month. I'm just going to check around to make sure there isn't any legal ramifications.
Month to month IS a lease… whatever the agreement was on the last lease prior to Converting over to month to month is what you have to uphold, in most places you have 30-60-90 day increments where you make adjustments to that, or require a move out. You can also inform the tenant that you are requiring a longer term lease with updated terms. Depending on where in MA you are, how much notice you have to give.
Bottom line is you have 2 separate meters and if there is no collective water usage (laundry room, yard, etc) from that unit it should be their bill unless it’s in the last lease that that is paid by the LL.
Apologies for not being clear, but there is no lease. They are a tenant at will. I didn't inherit a lease from the previous landlord as they were a tenant at will under her as well. In any case, the bill moving forward will be going to them if possible.
It will lower your stress and possibly prolong your life. This is definitely bad news for the healthcare industry and the mental health industry. Yes, there was sarcasm in my statement.
Also, I'm not sure if you could pass the water bill to them. Please check with your lease. Month to Month still follows the same terms on the old lease.
It maybe good to terminate current lease and offer to update the new lease with the new terms.
Check MA law to be sure, but IMO it is always best for the tenant to pay their own utilities. That gives them an incentive to conserve, and gives them some control over the cost. Since this tenant is on a month-to-month, I would simply provide 30 or 60-day notice (whatever MA law requires) that they will become responsible for the water bill as of XXXX date. If that would be too much of an increase all at once I might even lower their rent a bit to make up some of the difference.
Another issue you need to address is the lack of a clear lease with this tenant. You can leave it at month-to-month if you or they prefer, but you need to get them on a proper lease that protects your rights.
Gotcha. I'll resolve this ASAP. Thank you.
Don't raise the rent, If there is an actual separate meter for the unit, why wouldn't you have it be the tenant's responsibility? It's better for everyone that way. The tenant only pays for what they actually use (as opposed to paying extra $100 per month in rent to account for possible water hogs) and you don't have to worry about people taking 2 hour showers or letting the toilet run etc.
Separate water meters are pretty uncommon in MA. I have been managing 2-8 units in MA for about 20 years and I have wished on more than a few occasions that it was feasible to have the water accounts split out.
Thank you
You have to meet specific conditions to do so. Under your conditions, where you don't have a written lease with the tenants and haven't filed anything about this, the answer is just that you can't.
Requirements are: tenancy started on or after March 16 2005, there must be a written tenancy agreement, submeters are installed, faucets, showers, and toilets are low flow, and you have written approval from the board of health to charge them. Without all of these being true you cannot charge them for water.
This is not a sub-meter situation. The tenant's unit has a separate meter.
OP still has to meet all of the requirements for MA state law. Key thing they're already failing is not having a written agreement.
Toilet is probably running
In MA you need a certificate from the town and your plumber that all fixtures are low flow before you can pass thru the water bill. You also need to have a provision in your lease that the tenant pays the water bill.
By push to them do you mean you make them put it in their own name? Then no, that's preferable and you should definitely do that.
Paying the bill and then expecting to get the cost back from them is a disaster waiting to happen. You are a month to two months behind on costs this way, plus it's generally illegal to shut off their water if they don't pay (unlike what the company itself can do if they do the same to them).
HOWEVER, if the bill suddenly doubled, you need to check for leaks. It's very unusual for water usage to jump like that. Could have a running toilet flapper, or dripping faucet, or an actual leak sprung in a pipe.
Having them pay it directly can have downsides some places the water company can lien the property for past due bills etc. Locally we never let the tenants pay water/sewer directly because of that. Pay it yourself and charge them sure.
In MA you are allowed to pass the water/sewer bill to your residents as long as it is individually metered. You can give them the bill when it arrives and collect the payment with rent. Since they are month to month, you need to give them a notice of change in terms in writing that they will be billed for their usage at the next renewal period (beginning of next month). Regulations require that they get a copy of the bill that shows usage. It is not legal to divide a master bill in MA between multiple units. That is called ratio utility billing (RUBS) and is against regulations. If they have their own meter, follow the above and you’ll be compliant.
Good to know. Thank you.
Be careful with utilities. In some places if the tenant does not pay, the utility can charge the property owner and even put a lien on the property. This is the case for water and sewer where I am at. If you let the tenant be billed for this type of service and they don't pay, you will have to. The only solution is to bake the costs into the rent. Every tenant here knows about this so they will not pay for water even if they are supposed to. Then when they move, you get 12 months of water bills you didn't expect to pay.
We pay the water bill because if it goes unpaid the city can put a lien on your property, so we take no chances.
Are they watering the lawn now and weren’t before since it was winter?
Anyone know what the laws are for virginia landlords? Do I need to keep water and electric in my name?
You can keep them in your name and either allocate the master bill to residents based on occupancy (if multiple units are on one master bill), or pass a copy of the bill to the residents when you get it. Regulations in Virginia allow passing utilities in both situations.
Thanks for the insight, much appreciated
I leave water bill in my name but pass charges onto tenants. In nj if the tenant doesn’t pay and it’s in there name you won’t know it but when they move as owner you get stuck with the bill.
Passing water bill to tenants sounds like a great way to end up with a toilet filled to the brim with shit. I bought a house that was near foreclosure and the previous owner was renting it to people she knew and gave them a sweetheart deal, because of that but they had to pay utilities. They stopped paying the utilities and continued to shit in the toilets until completely full. I think it's best to just provide minimal utilities and then I just write them off.
As a landlord in Massachusetts myself, I've been in a similar situation. Passing the water bill to the tenant can definitely be a solution, especially with separate meters. It's fair since they're responsible for their own usage. However, be prepared for some pushback from the tenant, especially if they're used to having it included. Raising the rent might seem easier, but it could affect your ability to attract new tenants. Make sure to communicate the change clearly and consider offering options like installing water-saving fixtures to mitigate any resistance.
If it's separtely metered and their name on the meter, it's their responsibility. The company will end up going after them.
Legacy tenants usually need to be asked to leave. Every single one since 2004 had to go.