my town won't put the utilities in the tenants name on a SFR

[LuAnn Vigen]

I'm looking for advise on how to handle the water, garbage and gas bill for my single family rental. The town no longer switches them into the tenants name, so I am responsible for it.

Do I send a bill to the tenant each month or do I just figure the costs into the rent? If I do this how do I protect my self from the heat on and the windows open, or the water running all the time?

Any advise from someone more experienced then me would be greatly appreciated.

LuAnn

[Roy N.]

@LuAnn Vigen

We use a separate Utilities Budget Agreement which is attached as a Schedule to the lease.  In this agreement we identify the utilities and services which are in-scope (i.e. electric, water/sewer, gas, snow removal, lawn care, etc) and the amount which the tenants will pre-pay into the utilities fund each month.

The programme works as follows:

1) Tenant pays the agreed-upon amount on or before the first of the month (paid in advance);

2) Utilities remain in our corporate name and we ensure the utility bills are paid on-time.  We also provide the tenant with an electronic copy of the utility bill so they can monitor their resource consumption.

3) Every three months we reconcile the amount paid into the fund against the actual amount paid for utilities & services.   If there is a surplus in the account - tenant has paid in more than they have consumed - we offer the choice of a) leaving the funds in the account in anticipation of larger bills (i.e. winter is coming); b) applying the surplus toward the next month's rent; or c) {at the end of the lease only} refunding the surplus to the tenant.

If there is a deficit - the tenant's resource consumption exceeded their contributions into the fund - the tenant is invoiced and has until the first of the next month to pay the outstanding balance.

Originally we started this offering with our student houses, as I refused to rent with utilities included.  This programme gives the tenants the convenience of a single payee for rent, utilities and services, while still holding them accountable for their resource consumption.  As a landlord we have mitigated the risk of skyrocketing resource consumption which classically accompanies renting with utilities included.