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Watering for the condo's shared flowers and greenery can increase the water bill a lot too, especially if the sprinkler heads are broken or not adjusted right. We had to do that kind of improvement last year in my condo. But wow, that's pretty gutsy for someone to take in laundry at the expense of their neighbors!
We didn't limit water usage, but we did notify owners in writing and at our annual meeting about how water costs were rising. We made a graph of water usage and water costs and how they had risen over a 5 year period. We made them aware that their HOA fees would reflect water costs, and usage has stabilized or even reduced a little.
Yes, really dishonorable. After a few years he and his wife put their home up for sale. We went for a look out of curiosity and could not believe the rigged and half finished condition of the storage and utility areas in the basement he was making into living spaces. Then the low small bedrooms under eaves. I innocently thought oh aren't they cute for the grandkids. No, they were taking in people too, friends who were their neighbors told us. I would feel sorry for the whole situation except I know the price he paid and he could have bought a single house same size on a little land, even with some outbuildings, still with the same power, still the same lack of public transportation, same water source, etc etc. The only difference I think is the complex had a pool. And the guy liked to bring all the kids over from church once or more a week to fill their small community pool. And the kids yelled and had a great time running and doing that thing where you curl up and jump in the pool really hard...the cannonball...and water splashes everywhere. But it was really a quieter pool and the residents didn't like that at all.
Now that was easier for them to stop than the water usage. I guess because the water usage went on inside the guy's house and couldn't be blocked.
They do charge them all. If the water bill goes up, then the condo fee goes up. For everyone.
That's the deal you're signing on for when a utility is billed association-wide rather than by what each unit is actually using. And since you're never going to get people to agree on where the line lies between "normal use" and "abuse," curbing the clear-cut abusers (like the guy who was washing 10 Class-C RVs in his driveway every week) without also angering everyone else becomes really, really hard.
If I lived in the OP's complex, I'd be pushing the board very hard to start budgeting long-term for individual water meter installation. The upfront cost may be high, but it's a once-and-done project that would pay big dividends down the road (in the form of decreased friction between different residents) for many, many years. If RV Guy still wanted to wash his entire family's collection of Class C RVs weekly he could, but he alone would be picking up the tab for that.
I am so glad that I have my own house, my own spigots, and my own well. I am so glad that I am not in a subdivision where tinpot dictators can tell me what to do with my own property.
I'm a "tinpot dictator" and I would never live with a well or septic. So there!
That's the deal you're signing on for when a utility is billed association-wide rather than by what each unit is actually using. And since you're never going to get people to agree on where the line lies between "normal use" and "abuse," curbing the clear-cut abusers (like the guy who was washing 10 Class-C RVs in his driveway every week) without also angering everyone else becomes really, really hard.
If I lived in the OP's complex, I'd be pushing the board very hard to start budgeting long-term for individual water meter installation. The upfront cost may be high, but it's a once-and-done project that would pay big dividends down the road (in the form of decreased friction between different residents) for many, many years. If RV Guy still wanted to wash his entire family's collection of Class C RVs weekly he could, but he alone would be picking up the tab for that.
I agree. Sharing water like that thru fees is also very unfair when you have small and large families. I own my own home but my father had a 2 family house where they had their own meters.
I think they should get a few estimates for installing meters then go with the cheapest; go in stages over say a year or 6 months. Starting with the building with most usage.
I'm not one to waste water but I know people who don't care. They have it on full blast while brushing or washing hands which drives me crazy.
With our water sources drying up in parts of the world, you really have to conserve or we're gonna not have it in some parts. Some people really need to wake up because those of us that do respect our resources can't make up for people that waste it.
That's the deal you're signing on for when a utility is billed association-wide rather than by what each unit is actually using. And since you're never going to get people to agree on where the line lies between "normal use" and "abuse," curbing the clear-cut abusers (like the guy who was washing 10 Class-C RVs in his driveway every week) without also angering everyone else becomes really, really hard.
If I lived in the OP's complex, I'd be pushing the board very hard to start budgeting long-term for individual water meter installation. The upfront cost may be high, but it's a once-and-done project that would pay big dividends down the road (in the form of decreased friction between different residents) for many, many years. If RV Guy still wanted to wash his entire family's collection of Class C RVs weekly he could, but he alone would be picking up the tab for that.
In the case of the Class-C Guy? That was a stacked building in a city block. The exterior spigots were accessible to anybody walking by on the sidewalk. Not a driveway, individual spigots attached to units type of place and yes, they did have nervy people who didn’t even live there using their water.
We took the handle off our house’s outside spigot for a while, because we had a small homeless population who felt free to use it. A few steps off the sidewalk and a nice thick bush to hide behind.
In the case of the Class-C Guy? That was a stacked building in a city block. The exterior spigots were accessible to anybody walking by on the sidewalk. Not a driveway, individual spigots attached to units type of place and yes, they did have nervy people who didn’t even live there using their water.
We took the handle off our house’s outside spigot for a while, because we had a small homeless population who felt free to use it. A few steps off the sidewalk and a nice thick bush to hide behind.
Yes, there are certainly folks out there who are brazen about using "free" resources they clearly don't have a right to take.
I'm in a stacked condo, but the people in my place who are in the ground floor units have a sort of "walled garden" common area that's accessible to them alone and that's where the taps are, so there's no way for a person off the street to just come up and use the tap. And because it's an older building, most of the outdoor taps are operated by attaching a removable key to turn the tap on or off, so without that key they couldn't steal water even if they had access. That certainly helps. But we'd be just as vulnerable to the antics of Dementia Lady as the OP is. That's the big downside of pooling utility costs.
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