Unexpectedly high utility bills on a rental?

[SavingWithBabies]

My wife and I relocated back to the midwest. With a baby due in 2-3 months at the time, we were a bit rushed to find a rental. We compromised on a house we could well afford but that had a monthly rental more than we really wanted to pay at $1,650/month. After a couple of months, we discovered that technically this house was not in the city that is all around us but in the county. Which meant that the water and sewer from the city was billed at triple the rate of those in the city. That tripling includes not only the rate per gallon but also the monthly billing fees and meter connection fee. Fees alone total ~$50/month where if you were in the city, this would be billed once per quarter at ~$50. So they bill non-city users monthly instead of quarterly. This is why it took a month or two to realize that yes indeed, that $170 water bill was a monthly event not a quarterly event.

The lease does not mention these details. The landlord didn't mention anything when we signed up. He did mention after we had moved in and were leaving here for 2-4 weeks, in passing, that there was this odd thing and the house was technically not in the city but in the county. It is roughly the 3-5 houses on our block on one side that are in this situation.

The city documentation on tripling the rate goes way back to the founding of the city. I am going to go get more details but it mentions only tripling the rate. Would I be able to argue that tripling the fees was not a correct interpretation of the decision? If so, that would save us a bit over $400/year in fees.

The funniest part of all of this is that, by relocating from the San Francisco Bay Area, which was at the time in a major drought, we would be lowering our cost of living. But we are actually paying about a 1/3 more for water here than we were paying in Oakland! In the end, it adds up to basically a +$100/month charge to live here (so now we are up to about $1,750/month + utilities). I have not discussed this yet with the landlord.

I see these options:

- live with it and move after the 12 months are up (we think we can find a not quite as nice house in not as quite as nice an area but good enough for about $1,000 month with in-city water & sewer rates)
- talk to landlord and ask for a discount
- attempt to get at least the fees down and maybe save $400/year
- do both of the two options above

Lesson learned on my part. Google Maps is fairly decent at showing the city outline. So I'll use that in the future when looking at rentals. But I also will be asking probing questions which I had no idea I'd need to ask before (like is this house, which is right in the middle of this city, technically not in the city?).

[Ego]

Are you watering landscaping? If so, you might hold that as your second bargaining chip if the landlord says no to a discount. Check to see how often the sprinklers are set to water. Agree (ideally in writing or through email) to decrease the frequency of watering. You might start with a suggestion to eliminate watering altogether so that the landlord will come back with once a week or twice a month.

[SavingWithBabies]

No, no watering of landscape. In the midwest here, it rains enough. We did have a couple of weeks of dry weather but we just let the grass go yellow and then it came back with recent rains. So no outside watering at all.

[Riggerjack]

I bought in unincorporated snohomish county. The city of marysville had been trying to annex my neighborhood for decades. In the 80's they passed my house with sewer, billed the owner to connect, despite the fully functional septic system. We voted down annexation 3 times, so they "fixed it" administratively. One of the benefits of annexation was moving from rural customer to resident rates for water. The rates being 3 times higher was part of the stick they use to help people understand how much better life will be as compliant citizens of the city. And, if people stubbornly refuse to comply with the wills of their natural superiors, (ie, mayor and city council), them jacking up fees fees that aren't optional is probably the most civil way to deal with such malcontents.

Comply and pay the mark-up, or don't, and they take your land, and sell it to someone more compliant. Either way works for them.

In my case, I have to sell the house, in yours, you will just have to move. The rate is no accident, it was meant to be a punishment. A punishment that has been passed to you.

I would talk to your landlord. He was the one this punishment was meant for. He is under no obligation to do anything about it, and he can't force the city to be fair. But he can take some of the water costs on, if he chooses. Explain the bills, and why you were blown away by them. That you think the extra costs caused by the city shouldn't come out of your pocket. Maybe he will work with you. Maybe, he won't. If he won't, I would look at my rental contract, and do some math on the cost of breaking the lease. Then I would shop around. Rents here go higher in the summer, so I would look for a local move in winter time. Explain to the new landlord the problem with the water and lease, and that you will be breaking your lease and paying the fees to move. Most independent landlords will understand breaking a lease if there is reason, and the fees are paid, so you don't screw over your landlord.

This can be a headache, but it is temporary. Fix it, and move on.

[Laura Ingalls]

Your lease does say that the tenet is responsible for the water and sewer, right? It is/was cheesy that the landlord didn't tell you it was expensive but highly unlikely to be illegal.

Most of the time you can find out the previous occupant's usage amount and expenses by asking the provider before you sign the lease or make an offer to buy. I know it stinks but I am inclined to think that someone who would neglect to tell you about the high water rates is not looking for long term tenants.

[Campitor]

I would take navy showers and conserve as much water as possible. Hope the landlord at least put in water saving faucets/showers heads and the obligatory 1.5gallon flush toilet. That water bill is criminal. I would be storing gray water for flushing the toilet.

[SavingWithBabies]

@Riggerjack I'm going to follow your advice. I'll try talking to the landlord but nicely. We really want to move at 12 months anyway to get the monthly housing bill down. So it's a lesson learned. And you're exactly right about the economics of it -- the city wants to annex, owner probably doesn't although might be more inclined now as tax rate for rental in this county is higher than tax rate for owner living in residence. But I think still less than the water difference and if they can push that onto the tenant...

@Laura I'll check. I looked mostly just to see if it mentioned the water. I don't doubt you're right though.

@Campitor We bought our low flow shower head back from California. We do have a very slow "dripping" (mostly just moist feeling) bathroom tap with unfortunately no shut offs. The plumbing is a bit dubious in the added bathroom. I think toilets are not low flush. We do have one in cloth diapers at the moment which is not the greatest with these bills. I roughly ran the numbers and it still comes out in favor of cloth.

The upside to this is knowing about this potential problem before buying a house. That would be most unfortunate to discover after the fact.

[halfmoon]

I have to reluctantly disagree with Riggerjack here. Talk with the landlord? Hell, yes. Break the lease? Hell, no. Wrong/bizarre as it may be, your credit record is a measure of your viability in many ways now. Breaking a lease (and the potential legal judgment obtained by your landlord) can affect your employment prospects, your insurance rates, your mortgage rates if purchasing and your desirability to future landlords if renting. Action outside the legal box is not rewarded in the current world.

Let me just repeat that: Action outside the legal box is not rewarded in the current world. This forum celebrates rebellion (as do I!), but that works best when you've achieved a significant measure of financial independence or an unusual level of mental/social/emotional disassociation from conventional systems.

Your lease is a contract. Don't idly break contracts.

[SavingWithBabies]

To be clear, I meant follow the advice of talking. I've never broken a lease and right now have no plans to do so. I'm about 1/3 into this one and it's only 12 months and then month-to-month. On top of that, we really want to get the housing cost down and have found proof we can do that so we definitely want to move when the lease ends.

I did initially research breaking a lease when I first discovered this issue a couple months ago. It didn't sound so bad if you did it in a way that you were responsible, paid the rent until a new tenant was found, reminded your landlord they had a duty to re-rent within a reasonable timeframe and couldn't just sit out the lease, etc. On purely an economic basis, it seems like a bad idea as I'd potentially lose a month or two of rent (while paying rent at a new place) which would be much more than the extra amount spent just sitting out the rest of the lease.

[Riggerjack]

Well, maybe things are different in others states, but here in Washington, if you break your lease, the landlordstill has to go through the turnover process, and look for a new tenant. The tenant is responsible for rent up until the new tenant is found. If you pay what you owe, why would anyone go to court, or get judgements, or dings on a credit report? A lease is a contract, complete with penalties for breaking the contract. Comply with the penalties, you have complied with the contract.

Most residential landlords are amateurs. Me too. But that allows for some flexibility. Use that to your advantage.

I know if one of my tenants complained about the water bill, I would try to help them out, because happy tenants make my life easier. But there are very definite limits to how much I would help.

If you are thinking of leaving after the lease, I wouldn't bring that up until notice is due.

[SavingWithBabies]

@Riggerjack That all makes sense to me. Thank you. I appreciate hearing your take on it from your perspective as a landlord.

[Shep]

Are you watering landscaping? If so, you might hold that as your second bargaining chip if the landlord says no to a discount. Check to see how often the sprinklers are set to water. Agree (ideally in writing or through email) to decrease the frequency of watering. You might start with a suggestion to eliminate watering altogether so that the landlord will come back with once a week or twice a month.

For the Lawn, I would invest in a rain barrel or two and then disperse in the spring and summer. You can take them with you to your next house and they should last a very long time.

[SavingWithBabies]

Those are good tips. In the midwest of USA though it's typically a very mild climate in the summer so I never once used the hose for the lawn or plants.

We decided in the end to just sit it out and move when our lease is up. The rent is a big higher than we would like so we would likely have moved anyway.