Utilities - Fee to Tenant

[Eva G.]

I have a tenant who just moved in in February and its seeming like he has never rented before. So far he's been late on the rent b/c he hasn't figured out routing the payments correctly and he still hasn't switched the utilities into his name. 

Apart from these hiccups, he has fixed some things in the house and has been communicative and for some reason I actually its just a growing pain and he's making efforts to get on track. 

The utilities though charge a deposit that is refundable at the end of service. I'm open to continue to pay them, and then charge him a fee for my service in lieu of him switching to his name. Does anyone have good advice on a reasonable fee ? I'm thinking 5% which on this last month's bill would come to $17.45. Would 10% be reasonable ? It is a risk I'm taking and a nuisance... 

Thank you! 

[Eliott Elias]

Utilities should be in the tenants name, non-negotiable. That puts you as a landlord in a situation you dont want to be in.