Implementing RUBS and billing tenants

[Landon Allen]

I am closing on a Duplex in Holt, MI right now. All of the utilities are split separately besides the water. There's one meter. To further cut costs I was considering implementing a Ratio Utility Billing System (RUBS) for the water here. Splitting it up evenly by number of tenants, square footage etc. I was curious if anyone has done this in Michigan and if it's legal with water? Also how do you bill the tenants? Do you use a 3rd party and if so is their anyone you can recommend? 

[Aaron W.]

@Landon Allen Congrats on closing on a duplex!

You can Google RUBS services and you can find service providers that can install this on your property. Although, they are usually for larger complexes, you can probably do it on your duplex.

Since it's only a duplex, you may just want to calculate it by hand. You can split it down the middle. Another alternative is to split it per tenant. For example, if one unit had 2 tenants and the other had 1 tenant, then the unit with 2 tenants would be charged 66% of the bill. There are advantages and disadvantages to both methods, but can save some money on separately metering or using separate service.

Good luck!