Toledo Water Billing Strategies

[Cheryl Mack]

Hello Fellow Sufferers,

I am reaching out to the BP community for feedback on how you handle water billing in Toledo.  

We are trying out use of Landlord-Tenant Authority Forms and waiting for results. 

Backstory: We have never paid water/sewer/trash for our residents, on the theory that people respect freebies less than things they pay for.  So in the past we have received the bills, entered them into our accounting program, and billed to the resident.  Problem #1 came when we didn't know they failed to pay.  So, we began downloading every bill every month...loading the bills into accounting...paying the city for all accounts...and billing the resident.  Some of them paid us timely; some of them didn't, but it was better.  That didn't cure Problem #2: two low estimated bills followed by a whopping big bill for actual use in the third month.  Problem #3: Residents never were able to see the bill unless we emailed it to them (yet another time sink.)

Although upgrades were meant to fix the sticker shock, it has not improved, but gotten worse.  By 2nd half 2021 I was getting such outlandish estimated bills (or no bill at all) I was ready to pull my hair out.  It was taking me 6-10 hours/month to sort out billing for DPU for each of 15 doors and it was difficult to be accurate.  I finally threw in the towel.  The lone option open to us was to get residents to sign the Landlord Tenant Authority Authority Form so they could get the bill directly and pay it themselves. (DPU offers 3 payment options)

So far so good.  We will need to check each account each month to see who has paid and issue 3-day notices if not paid or under payment plan.

I am still not pleased with the billing system, but the residents like getting a bill in hand.  They will still be at the mercy of the Low bill-Low bill-HUGE Bill cycle but I can't help that.  What is your experience? What methods have you tried, and how well did they work for you?

Cheryl

[Ryan Pyle]

Hi Cheryl, I don't own SFR's anymore, but when I did I included water in the rent and just increased the monthly rent by whatever my system-wide average for water usage was. Sometimes I'd come out ahead, sometimes I'd come out behind, but I had enough volume that it pretty much averaged out. There was zero hassle. It also was one less friction point with tenants. For tenants who were high water users, I just gave them bigger rent increases at renewal time. This does work well over time, but you can't sweat it on a monthly basis. Annual rent increases is also key to this working.

[Michael P.]

Quote from @Ryan Pyle:

Hi Cheryl, I don't own SFR's anymore, but when I did I included water in the rent and just increased the monthly rent by whatever my system-wide average for water usage was. Sometimes I'd come out ahead, sometimes I'd come out behind, but I had enough volume that it pretty much averaged out. There was zero hassle. It also was one less friction point with tenants. For tenants who were high water users, I just gave them bigger rent increases at renewal time. This does work well over time, but you can't sweat it on a monthly basis. Annual rent increases is also key to this working.

 This might be a problem across Ohio so I’m dropping some keywords: Cleveland Columbus Cincinnati Akron Dayton

[Conn G.]

I usually just build in the water/sewer charge with the rent amount if the building is multiple units with one water meter. I've seen others in the area advertise a lower/attractive rent amount but add a XX dollar water & sewer fee. 

[David Terbeek]

Cleveland is similar where the water/sewer follow the property, not the tenant.  We pay the bill then get reimbursed from the tenant.  It it is not fun but seems the best for us.  We have something similar to Landlord Tenant Authority Authority process BUT the tenant has to go to the city in person, pay a hefty deposit and then in the end - the charges are STILL the property owners responsibility if they are not paid (read the agreement carefully to ensure that is not the same in Toledo).  Paying and getting reimbursed seems to be the lesser of the evils.

[Shane Kelly]

Quote from @David Terbeek:

Cleveland is similar where the water/sewer follow the property, not the tenant.  We pay the bill then get reimbursed from the tenant.  It it is not fun but seems the best for us.  We have something similar to Landlord Tenant Authority Authority process BUT the tenant has to go to the city in person, pay a hefty deposit and then in the end - the charges are STILL the property owners responsibility if they are not paid (read the agreement carefully to ensure that is not the same in Toledo).  Paying and getting reimbursed seems to be the lesser of the evils.

 We have also been having some difficulties with water in Cleveland. As stated in the quoted reply, the tenants on SFRs are due to pay a quite large deposit that they will receive back if they make all payments, but this can pose a hurdle when they hear this. We've been trying to sort a system that works for the owner and the tenant, and I'm thinking that is just to raise rent prices to include water and advertise as such. Hope this helps.

[Cheryl Mack]

Hello,

Thank you to everyone who has responded so far!

@Ryan Pyle, I did try averaging and it worked as long as I kept updating the average.  I had a few residents whose bills went well beyond the average throughout the year; I kept having to re-figure until it wasn't worth it to continue.

To the Cleveland area respondents: Wow! The large deposit could be quite a barrier.  Do any of the assistance programs help tenants pay that deposit?  And yes, in Toledo the water bill follows the property and we are responsible for paying the bill if the tenant doesn't.  Still, if just some of the residents pay directly it will take numerous steps out of my work, so I'm trying it for 2022.

Best of luck to you!

Cheryl