Who's responsible for months of high, unpaid water bills?

Question

Bill F. · Answer

I'll take an unpopular position here and say that getting a tenant to sign a piece a paper that says they will do x,y and z is not some sort of magic panacea for all landlord problems. You have to inspect what you expect.

The fact remains that you need to pay the water bill since it is in your name. Then you can use the lease to try and get your tenants reimburse you. Not knowing the specifics of the situation makes it hard to predict the odds of your success, but if they didn't know they had to pay the water bill in the first place, this doesn't bode well. At a certain point you'll come to a juncture where you'll have to make the choice to burn the bridges and take them to court over this or simply eat the cost. If you pick the former remember, turning over a unit is the most expensive part of running SFRs.

Theresa Harris · Answer

It is in their lease to pay it and they signed the lease.  Arrange monthly payments.  If the tenant won't agree, then tell them they are in violation of the lease and need to leave or do not renew their lease.

For water you are ultimately responsible as unpaid bills are tied to the house. Moving forward, do not give a tenant keys until the utilities are all transferred into their name.  Some companies won't transfer water to a tenant (I have two that are like that) and I send the bill to the tenant when it comes and they pay me for it and I pay the bill directly.

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

Good call @Theresa Harris. That amount represents $250 mo water bill....waaaay too high. So in addition to the leak, they may be high usage or water wasters.

This is definitely on them as per the terms of the lease. I wouldn't pay the city yourself unless as a last resort...you'll be chasing that tenant for the money for years. Add $200 mo to their monthly payments until it's paid off.

And change your policies so that the tenant has the utilities in their name before moving in. I am not as large, or experienced, a landlord as some of the others that have replied, but I used to call the electric/gas/water/trash and tell them to stop service as of the last day of the month prior to move-in, and I would notify the tenants of this. That way, they knew that they would be moving into a dark, cold house with no water, unless they got the utilities switched over pronto......works every time.

Henry T. · Answer

Ultimately the property owner is always responsible. For electricity too!  Your lease should say tenant is resposible for all utilites. failure to pay them immediately is a lease violation and subject eviction, the same as non-payment of rent.

Jonathan R McLaughlin · Answer

@Janice P. Bill in your name so ultimately u have to make sure it’s paid. Letting this slide is what bit you. Bet u encounter less defensiveness and have a chance of salvaging this if you say you will kick in $500 and add 100/month in payments from the tenant. Let them save face.

Kick them out you will never see that money, and I doubt you could collect (implied consent) never changes it despite the lease and u never objected. More than enough to muddy the waters (sorry).

So I’d try that and if they flail non renew.

Steve K. · Answer

@Janice P. Just a note that this all depends on where the property is located so without that info, some of the advice you get on here may not apply. For example in a lot of cities the water and sewer accounts must remain in the owners name (this is the case for all of my properties, although in Denver I can add the tenants name to the account (so the tenant can pay the bill, but as the owner my name also remains on there as the primary and I’m ultimately responsible if tenant doesn’t pay) and I know some other areas like Cleveland will not transfer water out of the property owners name). You can ask the water utility to forgive some of the charges if you can provide proof that there was an undetected leak (a letter from the tenant backed up by a note from a plumber will probably be enough). If water is a lienable item in your location (a lien can be placed on your property if it goes unpaid), I’d keep it in your name, not the tenants. You can do a utility bill back which is what we do. In your case, I’d ask the utility to forgive some of the charges due to the undetected leak, then offer to split the remainder with the tenant to keep the relationship in good faith, and moving forward I’d receive the bills personally and charge the tenant for them monthly in addition to rent. This is how we do it and it’s usually the same amount every month so if it’s off I notice it and find out why.

Theresa Harris · Answer

Also while there was a leak (and the amount adjusted), that $1750 represents 6 months of water usage.  I don't know what the typical water bill is there, but I know where I am, the base amount is almost $100 a month.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Tenant is responsible. They are even responsible for the excess use. If they had followed the lease and set up their utility, they would have seen the utility bills with the high water usage and nipped this problem in the bud early.

As a Landlord, you should figure out how to confirm tenants have set up ALL utility accounts before you hand them keys.

Adam Martin · Answer

That's a lot of water and I agree that the tenant is responsible, but you also have a little liability here as well.  I don't hand over keys until utilities are turned over, they know well in advance.  Water is the only exception I make since you have to actually go to the local water company and physically sign and pay a fee by check, no online.  They know they have 1 week and the water is already set for shutoff but I only do this for people who aren't already local.  I'm lucky that most utilities are tied to the person not the house so if someone skips out on water or gas they just can't get it turned on somewhere else.  I have to pay a couple dollars per property for sewer to cover storm drains but that's all.  I do question why you didn't notice you were still getting bills, don't you have them sent to you directly for periods of time you are responsible either through email or mail.  I hope you are able to work out a payment plan and I would push for this.  If not I would not let them know until the end so they didn't use up their deposit on something else but would take it out of there.

Who's responsible for months of high, unpaid water bills?

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