Leasing a house..this is one of the terms (North Port: leasing agent, refrigerator)

[Trbl39]

I never had a house with a well or septic system before and I always owned, never rented. My lease is 6 months and 1 day. Just want to know if this is something normal in a lease?

1)Tenant, at tenant's expense is responsible for maintaining well aerator.

2)Tenant acknowledges that in the event property should be connected to city water and/or sewer, Tenant would be responsible for any and all connection charges/deposits all monthly water charges payable upon receipt of bills as additional rent.

How often does an aerator need to be maintained?

And as to # 2 , just what do they mean by that? If it has a well and the city come along and says this has to be hooked up to city water, wouldn't that be the homeowners responsibility? I have to pay all utilities including water (whereas if you rent in PA where I live now, water is always included). If water is a utility I have to pay for I understand that I would have to pay the monthly bill. I just don't want to sign something that says I would be responsible to pay to have the water hooked up to city water if the property now has a well.
Thanks for any help!

[TamRE]

Here is a link to the Florida Landlord/Tenant Laws.

Florida Landlord/Tenant Law Division of Consumer Services, DOACS (http://www.800helpfla.com/landlord_text.html - broken link)

[phonelady61]

I would say that you need to walk away from this house and find something else where you dont get stuck with a huge bill , you might not be able to pay for in the long run . There are too many rentals on the market to worry about such nonsense as this landlord is trying to pull .

[Tallen181]

Run dont walk. Hook up charges can be thousands. This guy is nuts. Hes trying to take advantage of you.

[d4g4m]

If, anywhere in the county, the county or a city decides to run water and sewer lines on your street, it is the responsibility of the property owner to pay the charges. [about $7000?] The owner can pay the full amount up front or have the charges added to their property tax bill as a non-ad valorem assessment. The charges are amortized over 20 years with service charges and interest. [$8500?]
Then, who ever lives in the house pays a monthly usage bill on the amount of water that flows through the meter.

The well pump and the aerator is the responsibility of the property owner. Just like if the water heater or the A/C, range, garbage disposer, refrigerator breaks down or the roof leaks.
A maintenace thing you can negotiate is who mows the lawn.

[Avalon08]

Wow, that's ridiculous. Doesn't this owner understand the meaning of RENTING? (One of the advantages is no maintenance!) Hope you haven't signed the lease...

[sware2cod]

Negotiate to remove both items from the lease, or walk away.

The charges for connecting to public water are into the thousands(usually between $5k-$9k), as the above poster noted. Homeowners can pay as a lump sum or have the debt added to the tax bill and pay each year. Sounds like the owner wants you to pay it all. NO WAY.

No clue on the well aerator, but that should fall under normal reponsibilities of the owner.

Make sure you read all the other lease details to see if they are going to make you pay to maintain other items which typically are the responsibility of the owner.

Leases are negotiable. You can negotiate to add and remove clauses and to reword items.

If they don't remove both those clauses, then you go elsewhere.

[Trbl39]

Thanks for the great info. I will be speaking to the leasing agent about this, but I just wanted to see what you all had to say. I have been reading these forums for over a year now and have seen about the water connection costs. Not having rented before and not dealing with wells and such I wanted to be sure I was on the right page.

It also says garbage and trash removal is considered a utility under this lease. This is a house that is not in a HOA. It is located between Cranberry and Chamberlain in North Port. Is there not a pick up by the city that is paid for by the taxes the homeowner pays?

Again thanks for your answers. I love this forum and how people help each other here.

[Big House]

Originally Posted by sware2cod

Negotiate to remove both items from the lease, or walk away.

The charges for connecting to public water are into the thousands(usually between $5k-$9k), as the above poster noted. Homeowners can pay as a lump sum or have the debt added to the tax bill and pay each year. Sounds like the owner wants you to pay it all. NO WAY.

No clue on the well aerator, but that should fall under normal reponsibilities of the owner.

Make sure you read all the other lease details to see if they are going to make you pay to maintain other items which typically are the responsibility of the owner.

Leases are negotiable. You can negotiate to add and remove clauses and to reword items.

If they don't remove both those clauses, then you go elsewhere.

I agree with you sware2cod,. That clause(s) should at least be clarified so that the op knows what they are paying for and it isn't open ended. It was wise of the op to read and understand the extent of what that clause could make them responsible for.

It is normal that all water bill related charges are passed on and become the responsibility of the tenant if there is a water bill from the city. The initial hook-up should be arranged by the Owner, not the tenant, and the Owner should pay any past due amounts. The new tenant should not be responsible for past due amounts unless they are incurred by them.

Providing Water and Sewer and other utilities (electric) are sometimes negotiable items, but mostly that happens under certain circumstances like when it is a multiple housing property and the utilities can't be split. Then the average cost of utilities is calculated and blended into the rent.
This cost averaging concept can be good and bad. If as an example a tenant is on fixed income, and they can accurately determine the cost of utilities for a whole year, then they can be averaged into the rent, and that helps with the fixed income tenant make the payments.

[nphomeowner]

I live in North Port and we do NOT pay for trash collection, it is included with our taxes. Please look at another home, this landlord sounds really shady to me and next he may want you to pay the taxes on the home too! Now for being in North Port, I love it.