I have a water bill question

[Shane Burke]

I just purchased my first duplex in April.  When doing the inspection on Jan 31 we found the outside water faucet was turned on… just a trickle but definitely running. Ground was soggy and was wet in the basement under the open faucet!   We turned it off and made a note of it in the inspection. I closed on April 4 and everything has been good with the tenant that the open faucet was feet from there front door. They Pd rents on the 1st of every month. Fast forward to now and I received a $725 water bill, from April 4 to June 28. Water/sewer sent water usage and it was 2 to 3,000 gallons used every day for the month of April.   May 2nd the water use dropped to 150 to 200 gallons a day for both units!   The unit with the water faucet outside there door, are in the process of moving out this month.   I have there $575 security deposit.  Last owner didn’t raise rent. I’m working on that. So my question: Would I legally be able to keep the security deposit to help cover the water bill, given that we found the faucet on previously?    

[Theresa Harris]

Unless you can prove they turned it on and left it on, unlikely. They should have been more attentive, but honestly if the tap on the side of my house was open, unless my neighbour saw it, I wouldn't know it was open.  I did have the water company for a rental call me as they couldn't get hold of the tenant and the water was constantly running.  Tenant said the flapper valve on the toilet sometimes stuck-she paid the bill and arranged things with the water company...but in this day and age I'd like to think the water companies would alert users if there is a massive and continuous spike in water consumption.

[Gregory Schwartz]

Not worth the legal battle. Caulk this one up to a lesson learned. 

In future leases, you could state that you cover water up to $XX.XX. Anything over that amount you could split between the units and bill back. 

But even that is a PIA. Just keep an eye on the bill and BPT search for leaks, running toilets, and faulty faucets.

Good luck

[Shane Burke]

They didn’t notify till the bill came…. In talking to other investors this has happened to them as well in my area. I will see if the water company has a way to put some kind of alert in place, to notify me of a future excessive water usage. Thank you 

[Henry T.]

Quote from @Theresa Harris:

Unless you can prove they turned it on and left it on, unlikely. They should have been more attentive, but honestly if the tap on the side of my house was open, unless my neighbour saw it, I wouldn't know it was open.  I did have the water company for a rental call me as they couldn't get hold of the tenant and the water was constantly running.  Tenant said the flapper valve on the toilet sometimes stuck-she paid the bill and arranged things with the water company...but in this day and age I'd like to think the water companies would alert users if there is a massive and continuous spike in water consumption.

 Ha! An alert would be great. My water company only pays a visit if you're not using water. Saw them on my security cam poking around, turning on outside faucets, and checking the street meter.  I called and asked what's up? They said they were concerned I wasn't using any water.

It's vacant but actively watched over, but using very little water. I had been busy doing other projects and this place was on the low priority. But still found it odd that they burn employee time for no water usage. Why the F don't they contact me when tenants don't pay their water bills? Instead of poking around my property when the water bill is fully paid?  Actually made me angry.  Grrrrrr.

[Alan Asriants]

Unless you can prove they turned on the water and left it on, then it is unfortunately on you. 

Utilities should be tenants responsibility but of course leaky pipes are yours. 

fix the water issue, check for leaks, and look at your meter. make sure it is a normal amount before putting the issue to rest

[Sam Applegate]

@Shane Burke
I agree that this is a good lesson learned. I wouldn’t pursue it further, but be more careful in the future about how you phrase utility billing in leases. Next time, consider implementing a RUBS system to prevent this issue from happening again.

[Russell Brazil]

No.

[Chris Grenzig]

Probably not, be happy your water costs are actually lower than they used to be and use this as a win.

If you want to prevent this in the future you can tackle this one of three ways, assuming they are allowed in your area (check before you do anything)

1. Have the resident put the utilities in their name if it's per unit. If it's 1 meter for 2+ units then probably not a great option

2. Bill back for utilities on a flat rate to help recoup some of the costs

3. Bill back for utilities based on usage, need to have a specific caluction for this (is it based on per unit, per number of occupants, per SF, etc.) Here's how it works. Jul1-30 they use the water, you get the bill on Aug 2nd. You can't bill them right away so you have to wait until Sep 1 to prorate that utility bill to the residents. So you're effectively billing 2 months in arrears but on the 3rd month (month 1 July, month 2 Aug, month 3 Sep). So it takes awhile to catch up, but they're paying their actual fair share of usage. Where it gets tricky is when they move out. Since they got the first 2 months without paying anything, their last month before moving out they have to pay for 3 months all at one time. One of those months you'll know what it is, but the other 2 you'll have to take some sort of an average and tack it on. There are companies that do this for you and charge a fee, but usually it's for larger buildings. 

Personally we just do option 1 or 2, it's easy to explain and understand, and even if option 2 only recoups you 80% of the cost, that's better than 0% or the headache of trying to figure out option 3.

Again make sure this is all allowed for your area