Just Got hit with a Nearly $500 Tenant Water Bill!

Moon Molson · 2023-07-20T16:40:09-07:00

Philly Landlords, I am paying the water utility on my East Kensington duplex and just got hit with a $485 water bill (when it averages $112 in the summer)! I sent the plumbers in, and they found a leak in the wall due to missing grout, but no actual pipe leak. In fact, they checked the meters and the water is not running: NO LEAK!This means that the only explanation is that my tenant(s) are using WAY TOO MUCH WATER! I was thinking that maybe I should submeter the water so the tenants will have to pay for their own, but unlike other utilities, if the water bill doesn’t get paid in Philly, the city can place a lien on your property, so apparently most landlords prefer to keep the account in their name in case the tenants don’t pay. Does anyone have any advice? Does anyone on here from Philly submeter? MM

Moon MolsonPro Member

OP

Rental Property Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2020 · 26 posts · 7 votes

3y

Quote from @Nathan Gesner:

This is commonly caused by a toilet that constantly runs or flushes. A running toilet can use hundreds of gallons of water per day.

Yeah, that was the case the first time: valve leaks. Hugely expensive, which is why I got on top of this giant water bill ASAP. But nope, not this time. The plumbers checked everything; the water wasn't running. I have to either submeter (which everyone seems to be advising against) or figure out a way to make the tenants more responsible with water usage. Well...unless the city is making crazy scary guesses as to water usage that they will rectify later.

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Brian Zaug

Lagrangeville, NY · Member since 2017 · 144 posts · 218 votes

3y

@Moon Molson no problem

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Matt McGuirePro Member

Rental Property Investor · Montgomery, TX · Member since 2018 · 201 posts · 103 votes

3y

Lowe's has this Wi-Fi water meter that has an app and an automatic shut-off valve. I know they are expensive, but you could install 2 of them so you could monitor where the water is going and then use Ratio Utility Billing System (RUBS) -a method of calculating a resident's utility bill based on occupancy, apartment square footage, number of beds, or some combination of factors, to bill them back for the water.

Moen Flo Smart Water Monitor 3/4-in to 1-1/4-in Indoor/Outdoor Smart Water Leak Detector with Automatic Shut-off Valve in the Water Leak Detectors department at Lowes.com

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Moon MolsonPro Member

OP

Rental Property Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2020 · 26 posts · 7 votes

3y

Wow! Thanks! This could totally help!

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Eric Greenberg

Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2019 · 618 posts · 430 votes

3y

Quote from @Moon Molson:

Quote from @Eric Greenberg:

Hmm, what date was the water reading from? Welcome to DM me but one of our properties also went up 4x last bill. IIRC sometimes philly water lags on their readings then catches up to current and therfore youll see one bill that is extremely high.

Interesting that you got hit with 4x last bill, too. I expected some serious flux in the water bills, but the 4x thing is CRAZY. It seems that beyond submetering, we as Philly landlords have no recourse in regard to this issue, no matter if it's due to consistent tenant overuse or the city making wild guesses about water consumption.

Saw something similar posted in a Port Richmond FB group today too

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Account Closed

Member since 2023 · 16 posts · 11 votes

3y

Submetering water can help allocate usage, but check local regulations.

inform tenants, consider costs, and educate on water conservation.

establish a reserve fund to cover unpaid bills. Seek advice from local experts or landlord association.

weigh risks against benefits.

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Dan H.Pro Member

Investor · Poway, CA · Member since 2015 · 7k+ posts · 8k+ votes

3y

I have multiple small MF with a single water meter for complex. We do not submeter but we charge tenants for water usage. We charge each unit a percentage of the water bill based on the size/configuration of unit. It does take a little effort informing each tenant of their water charge, but the resulting conservation of water is worth the effort (we have spreadsheet created that does the math automatically and we text the tenants their water charge).

In our jurisdiction (CA) this is legal as long as tenants are not being charged more than the utilities cost.

Occasionally a tenant complains about other unit’s tenant using too much water. I point out water split is in the lease and if they are unhappy they can leave at the lease end. I Virtually never get a second complaint.

If this is legal in your jurisdiction, it may be worth considering.

Good luck

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Nathan GesnerBusiness Member

Moderator

Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes

3y

Quote from @Moon Molson:

The simple solution is a clause in your lease that says utilities are included in the rent up to $XXX. Anything above that amount, caused by Tenant use, abuse, neglect, or failure to report a maintenance issue, becomes the Tenant's responsibility.

The DIY Landlord Book4.7247 Reviews

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Alan AsriantsBusiness Member

Real Estate Agent · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2019 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes

3y

Quote from @Moon Molson:

Quote from @Alan Asriants:

Always have tenants responsible for water.

If there is no responsibility, there is no care.

As soon as they are responsible, the bill will be under 100$ lol

Not that easy in Philly multifamily, where you can't submeter without the danger of liens, which is why I'm wondering if other local landlords are doing so.

With multi family I split the responsibility of the bill

Say you have a duplex.

in one unit lives 2 people, in the other 3 people

unit 1 is responsible for 2/5 of the bill and unit 2 is responsible for 3/5 of the bill

I text them a screen shot of the bill and I get payment.

So far no issues

[email protected]267-767-0111

Alan Asriants - New Century Real Estate 591 Reviews

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Stephen DeThample

Real Estate Agent · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2020 · 461 posts · 305 votes

3y

Quote from @Moon Molson:

Quote from @Bill B.:

Look up your cost per gallon. I swear it’s around $1.10 for 1,000 gallons in Vegas. You’re saying they used an extra $350 worth in one week? Like 300,000 gallons? I think a garden hose does about 12gpm. So that’s 25,000 hours of one hose, 3 years. Let’s pretend you’re paying 10x the Las Vegas price. So it’s 2,500 hours. That 100 days. So imagine you’re paying 10x our price, and they had 10 hoses running 24 hours a day. That’s 10 days.

Let us know your cost per 1,000 gallons, and how many gallons they say you used in that 5-7 days.

Ps. You could ask the tenants if they did anything unusual those 5-7 days, but I can’t see what it could be.

Ops. Half of Las Vegas (north Las Vegas) does liens for water sewer and even the private recycling - trash because they handle the billing. As far as I know western 1/2 the valley (las Vegas) only does liens for trash.

There was definitely some heavy (but varied) water use throughout June, going from 100-200 gallons for the first two weeks, then from 500 to 1,500 gallons per day in the third week, then going into 3k to 4.5K gallons in the final week. And here’s something: on June 25th usage nearly hit 4200 gallons, then dropped to almost nothing on June 26th, then jumped back up to 3,500 gallons the very next day. How can that variation be a leak. And to reiterate, usage went back to 100 gallons (maxing at 200) beginning July 1st and continuing until now. It’s actually pretty whacky, and now I’m thinking I need to call the Water Dept tomorrow, even though this is a new build with new meters.

Does anyone there do mobile car washes? If it is free, they may be letting other friends fill up too.

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Just Got hit with a Nearly $500 Tenant Water Bill!

Just Got hit with a Nearly $500 Tenant Water Bill!

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