Cleveland, Ohio, water/sewer huge bill <$11000 for a year>

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Cleveland, Ohio, water/sewer huge bill <$11000 for a year>

Raj Chandra
Member since 2021 · 4 posts · 1 vote

We have a single family home in Cleveland, Ohio, which is rented out on section 8 (chma) , and few months back came to know that the water/sewer bill was not shifted on tenants name and we saw a $3500 water bill and around $6000 sewer bill.

There is no way the tenant would have consumed so much water, either there was leakage or some other issue... but we were surprised to see this bill. Tenant I am sure will not be able to pay. the property mgmt is trying to evict tenant and hoping that CHMA takes some responsibility of paying this bill <not sure if they will do it? any one has any experience?> As per contract tenant was supposed to pay all utility bills including water sewer.


Wanted to check what our options are, that is too huge a bill for  a year <we checked all months bill and it was 3-4 months when it sky rocketed>. Is there any way water company can bring this bill down. any pointers on how to get down the bill/handle this situation will be highly appreciated... thanks a lot.

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Marc RiceBusiness Member
Real Estate Agent · Columbus Cleveland Dayton, OH · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
4y

That sounds like an old bill that was unpaid...in Columbus the water follows the property/owner, regardless of who's name it is in. You'll probably be liable for this one. You may be able to fight Section 8 for it.

[email protected]614-363-2787
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  • Lisa Asselin
    Member since 2018 · 7 posts · 2 votes
    4y

    If the house used or leaked the water, I don’t believe there is any way the water company can bring down the bill.  That would be like finding out all the lights were left on and then asking the electric company to bring down the bill.  Have you found the source of the high usage to correct this going forward?  

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  • Matthew Irish-JonesBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Buffalo, NY · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    4y

    @Raj Chandra sometimes the water company will offer a one time bill reduction if there was a leak. Call them and ask.

    Why is the sewer bill so high? Normally this is a standard fee and is not metered in anyway.

    Sounds like you have a water leak. Have you addressed this?

    Irish Jones Realty4.947 Reviews
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  • Raj Chandra
    OP
    Member since 2021 · 4 posts · 1 vote
    4y

    Thanks for pointer i will call and check.. for sewer it was tied to the units usage on water bill and charge was around $100 per unit ... so my assumption was they were metering it based on water input...

    Water leak we have tried to find but couldn't get anything... as the bill went back to normal usage in other months... <not sure if tenant left the taps open accidentally, but doubt it..>.

    We dont see high usage now.. it is back to around $100 per month..

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  • Nicholas MischPro Member
    Investor · Broadview Hts, OH · Member since 2016 · 310 posts · 280 votes
    4y

    @Raj Chandra I am sorry to hear this has happened to you. I would definitely try to talk to the water department to see if they can give you a reduction and if they can investigate the cause at all. I do not see CHMA paying the water bill under any circumstance. You will prob have to pay the bill and then go after the tenant to get it. I know its a long shot but I am guessing the most likely option. 

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  • David TerbeekPro Member
    Property Manager · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2016 · 260 posts · 162 votes
    4y

    Working with the Cleveland Water Company is an adventure, here are a couple stories.  There does not seem to be much rhyme or reason.

    1)  We had a bill around $8,000.  We argued that we could not find a leak.  2 months later we received an adjusted bill where the high usage mysteriously dissappeared.

    2)  Another bill was around $9,000.  Water Co would not back down, we had to do a monthly payment plan for $x per month to get it paid off

    3)  Currently, we are working on another issue.  There was constant usage early December that stopped on its own, plumber could not find a leak.  Starting on 1/1/22 it started again.  We are having the toilet flappers changed as a precaution as that is one thing that could cause intermittent usage but not the $11,000 level you are experiencing.

    You can go to clevelandwater.com and create an account.  You will find an hour by hour usage report which will help you to isolate when the water department claims the usage was made and how much.  If you PM me, I can send an example report from our current issue (can't seem to attach to the post).

    Unfortunately, I do not believe CMHA will pay for this, they pay up to their expected reasonable cost of the utility and that is all.  Keep arguing with the water co, maybe you will get lucky and the balance will magically go away.

    216-926-2900
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  • Seth Engelbrecht
    Lender · Cedar Falls, IA · Member since 2019 · 34 posts · 26 votes
    4y

    A water bill that high is likely a serious leak or a disgruntled tenant leaving the water run. I have a bad toilet flapper in one of my units I’m dealing with and it cost me $150ish for the last couple months before I caught it. I split the water meters on a different 8 unit property and within 2 weeks 3 tenants had complained about their toilets runnings. When the landlord I paying for the water nobody cares about usage 

    My brother had a $3,000 spike on the water bill for one of his properties last year and the only thing the plumber could figure out is that someone had to have left their sink run for days. 

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  • Raj Chandra
    OP
    Member since 2021 · 4 posts · 1 vote
    4y

    Thanks a lot everyone for your valuable suggestions, we will definitely reach out to water company and see what can be done. Will update this thread 

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  • Marc RiceBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Columbus Cleveland Dayton, OH · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4y

    That sounds like an old bill that was unpaid...in Columbus the water follows the property/owner, regardless of who's name it is in. You'll probably be liable for this one. You may be able to fight Section 8 for it.

    [email protected]614-363-2787
    Marc Rice | Investor Friendly Agent at Reafco Tailwind Team574 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
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  • Joe SplitrockPro Member
    Moderator
    Rental Property Investor · Sioux Falls, SD · Member since 2015 · 9k+ posts · 18k+ votes
    4y

    @Raj Chandra did you find out what time period that bill covers? They should have monthly readings, so you can see usage by month. In many cities, the water bill is tied to the property, so there could have been pre-existing outstanding bill prior to the tenant moving in. I would call to negotiate the bill down as low as possible. The sewer bill assumes the water went down the drain. How do they know the tenant didn't fill a pool, water the yard or operate a car washing business. Also, even if it was a leak that went down the drain, it is clean water. Sewer bill is for processing waste water. Any way you slice this, they should reduce this considerably. 

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