Tenant won't pay water bill. Any suggestions?

[Todd Moriarty]

Hey all fellow landlords "in the trenches" with me in the Detroit area:

In the five years my tenant has been at my rental property, most of the time he has been $300-$600 behind in the water bill.  It's his responsibility to pay it in the lease.  He pays the rent and keeps it clean but is lazy about the water.  I've tried different tactics to motivate him.  I've contacted the city and requested they send him a shut-off notice as a scare tactic but specifically told the city NOT to turn off the water for fear of ethical backlash in court from the judge. This tactic worked in the beginning but then he called the city asking questions and they told him that I requested the shut-off notices and not to turn off the water.

Then I sent him 30 day eviction notices asking him to pay $200 towards the bill then I'd agree to not file the eviction with the court, if he paid.  Or if he didn't pay, I'd file it.  This approach has worked so far but I'm getting tired of sending him the notices. 

A couple years ago, I added an addendum to the lease asking for an extra $100 per month and I'd pay the water bill but he refused.

On the bright side, over the past 12 months, he has paid the bill and there is a $0 balance. Yay!  Maybe he robbed a bank recently. I thought he looked familiar in a FBI most wanted poster. LOL. A couple times recently he bragged to me that he's paying it.  As if he deserves extra credit for doing something he's supposed to be doing anyway.

However, I know he will get behind again in the future. Any future suggestions? What do you guys do?

Thanks,

Todd

[Robert Melcher]

Our leases require them to have utilities in their name and active for the duration of the lease.

Any utility billing that comes to us after they take possession is added to their ledger and paid first from their incoming rent payments.

If the payment isn't enough to cover the rent too, then they are delinquent and subject to late fees and eviction filing.  

After a month, if they haven't put the utilities in their name, we notify them and take them out of ours.