Thoughts on RUBS providers?

Question

Hi everyone, I've been listening to the Bigger Pockets podcast for a while and have always wondered what multifamily investors/owners thought about RUBS (ratio utility billing). Anyone have any RUBS or utility billing stories/opinions to share? I do marketing for a boutique RUBS company and I'm trying to develop a win-win model so that tenants are happy, too (or at least not unhappy). I personally think rent and utilities should be separate and rents shouldn't be ridiculous. I'm in California for reference.

Sophia Baratashvili · Answer

@Melissa Oberti Hi Melissa, sorry to hear about your son's situation! What state is he in? Top rule for RUBS providers is transparency, so I would ask SimpleBills for their allocation table, original bills, and how they calculated the charges. Each unit should only be paying for their fair share of use. There may have been allocation errors but they should show you that information and be able to substantiate the billing. Hope this helps and best of luck!

Melissa Oberti · Answer

Thank you @Sophia Baratashvili   He is in Texas and I just found out his apartment complex was sold in September so the new owners made these changes - in which I can not blame them!  I am still trying to get to the bottom of this issue.  Appreciate your advice!!

Justin Windham · Answer

@Sophia Baratashvili

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Melissa Oberti · Answer

@Sophia Baratashvili I am dealing with my sons apartment property management team right now regarding their newly implemented RUBS. They started back in November 2021 and use SimpleBills. My son has gone from paying $5-10/month to now paying between $70-90 a month. To make matters worse, I know for a fact that other tenants have not been billed their portion of electricity and I feel their system was not set up properly. The property manager is telling me it’s because they leave the lights on and maybe leave the thermostat higher than needed, but this clearly seems to be an issue with the setup. Not sure where you are in your process but I am not happy with our current situation. Luckily my son will be moving into a rental house I bought this coming fall but I am determined to get to the bottom of this issue. It seems their unit is being “doubled” billed, possibly getting charged for the power of the unit below them. Other tenants that have been billed are paying between $40-50 per person a month which seems reasonable. $70-90 seems excessive, especially after only paying $5-10 before they started RUBS. Any advice on how to get this resolved would be greatly appreciated.

Dmitriy Fomichenko · Answer

@Sophia Baratashvili

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