Who's Name Should Rental Utilities Be In?

[Craig S.]

Hello,

I just purchased a duplex recently as a rental property, I live in half.

Everything is separately metered and all so I believe it is best to have the tenant pay all of their own utilities. However, I am aware that if the tenant does not pay their city utilities (water/sewer/trash) that these will be added to my property taxes at the end of the year.

How would I be aware if the tenant wasn't paying their utilities until the end of year?

Would it be smart in this type of case to pay the utilities myself and just increase the rent?

When I start acquiring more and more rental properties, I don't want to have to worry about checking in with all of my tenants to make sure they are keeping up on payments.

What is the best way to handle this?