Water Bill Due Question

[Joe Conklin]

I have a rental property where I have my tenants pay the water bill.  My township has residents pay the the water bill every quarter and have a question when the tenants owe me they water bill payment.

The way I have been approaching it is:

I get the bill April 1st for (April-June) and I send them a copy of the bill.  I say that they owe me their payment by May 1st which is the same time May rent is due.  If they do not pay the water bill by that time it is considered late rent.

Is this correct?

What are my next steps if they do not pay the water bill in time? Late fee and send notice to quit?

Curious to see the best approach to this situation is

[Derek Lamonde]

If you're in NJ it's not as easy as some of these folks are indicating, but putting it in their names would be a great start as suggested above. If there are kids in the home I'd caution against having it turned off without a certified letter of notification with a 30 day warning. I own 4 units here and even if it's in the lease it may not qualify for an eviction. In NJ you have to have "good cause" even at the expiration of the lease for not permitting tenants to remain on a month to month basis, so I'd consider us a "pro-tenant state". I'd advise working something out with the tenants if they're current on rent before going down the path of eviction. 

N.J.S.A. 2A:18-16.1