Tenants billed for water/sewer w/out meters (Atlanta, Duluth: section 8, apartment complexes)

[punkynlew]

Georgia and federal laws allow landlords to resell water to tenants through a third party billing service. Because of a loophole in the Safe Drinking Water Act Georgia EPD is allowed the discretion to determine whether a landlord who bills 25 or more full time residents separately for drinking water using an allocation method w/out submetering is required to have a permit to operate a public water system. Georgia EPD has primacy and chooses not to follow the urging of the U.S. EPA to disallow an exemption to landlords using the allocation method of billing for water because the EPA is not satisfied that method results in water conservation. The EPA exempts landlords using submetering from having to comply with the burdensome rules/regulations regulating the operator of a public water system because EPA is satisfied that submetering results in water conservation. This is clear in a memorandum dated Dec. 17, 2003 that was supposed to clarify the "sale" of water by a landlord and encourage the use of submetering as a means of water conservation. Problem is, in states like Georgia, where the allocation method is allowed, no landlord is going to invest the $$$ to retrofit submetering. Using the allocation billing method costs the landlord zero. Plus, the landlord can benefit from a volume discount from the public water utility and not disclose that or any other billing information (gallons of water, number of occupants being allocated to, rate/person and percentage of the total amount of water for which they are billed) to tenants. The clarifying memorandum, asked for by the U.S. Congress, did nothing to acheive its intent because of the influence of the apartment owners association's successful lobbying. Georgia OCGA 12-5-180.1 was enacted in 2000 allowing use of submetering or the allocation method and stated that landlords using either of these methods would not be considered public water systems. Two years later in 2002, that law was amended by deleting the language that exempted landlords from being considered public water sytems so as not to contradict federal code/ruling. However, Georgia EPD made absolutely no change in its policy or enforcement. My landlord, in Duluth, takes unfair advantage of tenants and abuses them by misusing the law with an arbitrary, inaccurate and unfair allocation formula. The allocation method sends no price signal to the tenant and the landlord recovers what he pays the county public utility from the tenant. Therefore, neither has the incentive to conserve water. Without submetering, tenants get billed for common area water usage and have to pay for the cost of the third party billing service as well as for the water they use in their apartments. Tenants in 1 and 2 bedroom apartments are paying far more ($50-$100+/mo.) than owners of single family homes in the same area. There are more occupants in many apartments than are on the lease contracts causing the ones who tell the truth to be penalized and pay extra for the ones who don't tell the truth. Many apartments are vacant (15% or more) , which reduces the pool of those splitting the common area water usage. Management is a flagrant violator of the outdoor water ban because they are unscrupulous and rest easy knowing tenants pay for the water anyway. I have reported the violations and intend to testify in court so the landlord is heavily fined. There is a renovation project underway that guts the interiors of everthing except the water-wasting toilet and bathtub/showerhead. Clearly, management is not concerned about water conservation. The property manager says their billing method is legal. I say, if it is legal it should not be. I say this is proof that some apartment owners, if not regulated and given the opportunity, will use unfair business practices and abuse tenants. I am talking to a lawyer, who has expressed interest in the case and possibly in filing a class action law suit that could affect 6 of the landlord's properties in the Atlanta area and a total of 77 of the landlord's properties in 10 states. If successful, a guilty verdict would be a precedent setting event and result in a ripple affect across the country. Forty-six states allow the use of the allocation billing method. You can be sure the powerful apartment owners associations will fight like hell to keep the gravy train rolling.

A very disturbed tenant in Duluth

[tdatl]

When I first moved to Atlanta, I ruled out any apartments that didn't have separate meters. I'd heard from others that it was easy to end up with monthly water bills >$100.

Good luck. Landlords/builders always win in Georgia.

[Las Vegas Mommy]

wow, its great to hear, Im not the only one having a problem with these practices. Here is what I have been writing in Las Vegas Forum, it would be great if you could provide a comment or any info on my post. Its steadily happening in Las Vegas right now, and I have an hearing coming up with our city reagrding these billing practices. Im trying to gain support

Pleas read my post, and let me know if I missed anything.



Does anyone know what Ratio Utility Billing Sytem is and master meters??

RATIO UTILITY BILLING SYSTEM (RUBS)- is a method of billing used for utilities based upon a formula of square footage, number of occupants, and rooms.

MASTER METERS- can be for Electricity, Gas, Water and Sewage
A master meter is One meter used for a whole apartment community.
No indiviual meters, just one big one or a few to provide utilities for the apt community. can be 80 units or even a few thousand.

HOW ARE APT OWNERS BLEEDING TENANTS THROUGH THIS BILLING METHOD????

Lets say you were looking into an apt for rent:

2/2 bath unit- Lush Landscaping, pools, hot tub, saunas, ect
$1100.00 + $25.00 flat rate for water, trash and sewer= $1125.00

2/2 bath unit- Lush landscaping, pools, hot tub, saunas, ect
$1075.00 + $40.00 for water, sewer, and trash based upon a formula of occupany or the RUBS billing method. This is what the leasing agent tells you, "your bill will never exceed this".
$1075.00 + $40.00= $1115.00

you go with at #2 A dollar saved is a dollar earned RIGHT!

Well, the first of the month comes around and you get your first bills
$1075.00 Rent
$80.00 Water
$30.00 Sewer
$5.00 for Trash
$4.25 service fee- this is what the 3'rd party billing company charges
Well, my grand total is $1194.25

WOW..........should have went with apt #1, you would have saved $69.25
Do you see where the dishonesty happens.
In order for the Apartment complexes who use such billing methods to stay competitve, they drop the rental rate a few dollars less than another apt community. What they forget to tell you is that they will get back the money plus some when the first of the month comes around.

When you complain about this practice, some people ask, well was it in your lease and how did you not know.

First, you have to consider this.
When you factor in your own water consumptions from past experience, you dont think BIG MONEY.
What the leasing agents forget to tell you or do not fully understand is:
1. all tenants pay for the leaks
2. all tenants pay for the pools
3. all tenants pay for the lanscaping
4. all tenants pay for vacant units- which tend to have a higher vacany rate, due to price of the unit and utilties.
5. alll tenants pay for every common area
6. all tenants pay more, when other tenants move in additional people and pets that are not on the lease.
7. On top of all that, they all come up with a fomula based upon square footage, number of people ON the LEASE and bedrooms.
So, if you are barely home and its just you living in a 2 bedrooms, you will still see a water bill that does not reflect your consumption. You can get a water bill for $55.00, $20.00 Sewer, $5.00 for trash, 4.25 service fee.
WOULDNT THAT JUST **** YOU OFF!
Oh, the people who have it the hardest are the ones with electricty and GAS..........how will they survive this year!

NOW IF YOU KNEW ALL THIS INFO AND WERE EDUCATED IN UTILITIES, WHAT ON EARTH WOULD YOU BE DOING LIVING IN AN APT!
You would probably be working in the Public Utilities office, and owning your own home with your six figure salary!

However, if you have been a victim of this scam....either you dont care and just the pay the bill because there is not a person to complain to, since its not regulated. Or you stay away from places like this and have learned your lesson the hard way.
Burn me once- SHAME ON YOU
Burn me twice- SHAME ON ME

How about we do away with the whole practice and NOBODY ELSE GET BURNED.

Just to let everyone know........If you dont think this can affect you, you can be wrong. If you live in a apartment and are currently paying a flat rate, they can change it, with 90 days notice. So, the lovely flat rate you might pay right now. Lets say $30.00, includes water, sewer and trash.
You can see that hike all the way up to $120.00 a month if not more.

So, the next time you see a beautiful apt community and all the lovely landscape. Stop and ask yourself, will I be paying for this through my utilities. Shouldnt the cost of such beauty, be included in your rent.

The next time you rent an apt and they are not on a flat rate or using individual meters, meaning you pay the utility company youself.
Get it in writing on how much you utility fees will be. If they dont, turn around and take your business elsewhere. There are plenty of other apt communites that are still using flat rates and promoting honest and transparency.

[LandShark99]

Las Vegas Mommy: I just read your post on the Vegas Forum and replied. When I hit post - poof it was gone! If they won't let us post here I'll start a Yahoo group. I'm as fried mad as you are about this tenant utitlity gouging.

Atlanta (20 years) recently transplant to Jacksonville, FL, here. They've got the same gig going on here. I'll be posting a bunch to get tenants united to stop this riduculous gouging now! These are not condos with association fees. These are apts that do not have seperate meters and I think it is illegally Re-Selling Public Utilities as a utilility company without a license, Federal Mail Fraud and Tax Fraud because utilities are taxable and they are not collecting or paying them because they are billing illegally. I won't forget the realtor who lead me here either.

Apts have never been outfitted with seperate meters for water because water, sewer and garbage have always been included in your apt rent - forever...

Atlantans: please join Nevada and Florida in our quest to put a stop to this! Just like the government they will mow you over if you let them. Do you know that apt tenants are paying an average of at least another $200-300 a month to offset the property tax increases due to the housing market boom? If you think apt living is getting out of property taxes, do the math. At $200 a month you are paying $2400 a year for the property tax owed by the rental company! At $300 it is $3600 a year you pay! Apts rents here have almost doubled since 2004. The same apt that was $700 in '04 is now $1195 up and now they are charging us utilities?

I am LandShark99 on Jacksonville, FL forum and you can DM me if you wish.

[Lantecgroup]

Many of the post above are inaccurate and don't depict how a RUBS system works. You don't pay common area usage. Laws are set to remove that from what the apartment can charge you. For instance if you have a laundry room and pool, the property can allocate about 75% of the bill back. The allocation methods SHOULD NOT BE FLAT RATE, YOU ARE RIGHT. This is unfair and is done to avoid having to go through additional work or by software to allocate correctly. There are three to four formulas that determine the cost of allocated water per apart. Square footage, occupants, etc. Hope this helps.

[punkynlew]

I can say what Berkshire Apts. in the Atlanta area was doing up until I was refused a lease renewel last Nov. 1. Tenants signed a contract, which stated the tenant would be responsible for paying a water bill, including an unnamed portion of common area water usage, based on the number of occupants and the square footage. Georgia has a law that states RUBS is legal as long as the landlord does not bill tenants for more than he pays the water utility company. There is nothing saying the landlord can not charge the tenants for the entire water bill. There is also no law protecting tenants from retaliatory eviction like what happened to me for complaining and questioning the landlords billing practices. Tenants where I lived also got stuck paying for illegal outdoor use of water during emergency drought conditions. The property manager claimed they were billing legally but would never disclose the precise formula used in their RUBS method. Monthly billing details from the utility company were not disclosed to tenants.

I now live in Florida and do not rent. However, Florida law says a landlord can use RUBS as long as he only bills tenants on his own property. I think that is wrong, because a landlord is allowed to add another condition which exempts him from complying with federal law (SDWA). That is allowing the state to have a law which contradicts superceding federal law. Lew

[rowhard88]

I would like to jump on the band wagon, because I am tired of the rip-off that these landlords get away with without any accountability. Enough is enough. Thanks

[midgeorgiaman]

I dealt with this non metered water once in Tucson AZ. I learned my lesson and when I moved here that was one of my two requirements for an apartment (water included or metered seperately and no section 8 accepted). I was fine after that. I was screwed in AZ with 5o+ water bills when I was never home as in deployed overseas. My neighbor watered her balcony plants excessively...we paid the same. Not okay and I ran. I feel your pain.

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by midgeorgiaman

I dealt with this non metered water once in Tucson AZ. I learned my lesson and when I moved here that was one of my two requirements for an apartment (water included or metered seperately and no section 8 accepted). I was fine after that. I was screwed in AZ with 5o+ water bills when I was never home as in deployed overseas. My neighbor watered her balcony plants excessively...we paid the same. Not okay and I ran. I feel your pain.

The water bills seem to be a bargain by SF Bay Area rates...

Looking at a metered bill right now for 60 days service and it is $119 and this doesn't include a drop of water... the $2 a day covers the account fee, seismic fee treatment fee and sewer fee. Water usage adds another $2.50 per unit...

A typical metered bill for a 100 gallons a day is about $70 per month.

Garbage adds another $33 a month making it $103 or $1200 a year.

The reason I bring this up is because I managed rentals that were mastered metered and the city pushed conversions to individual meters as a water conservation measure... it also increased costs a lot and generated income for the district.

The residents were not happy about it... they had to provide credit information and deposits and the building owners had to still have a meter for landscape...

I like the concept of individual meters... it's unfortunate it didn't equate to savings...

[MizterKewl]

Ok well maybe this is what is going on at my apartments. I currently have a 2 bedroom/2 bath apartment and my water bill last month was a OUTRAGEOUS $195.00. I was like this is ridiculous, there is no way my roommate and myself used $200 worth of water. Is there anyway that I can find out if we have seperate water meters?