[TraceyCCM]

Ok, just as a refresher, just closed on a house on Monday. We don't currently live in Vegas and never have. I have already gotten all the utilities put in my name, so this is just out of curiosity.

The info sheet my realtor gave me basically said you had to get a letter from your previous gas, electric or water supplier to get the security deposit waived. Not possible in our case because we've been managing a townhouse complex for the past two years and rent and utilities are paid for us. I think some of the utilities may have waived the deposit with good credit. Mine's not top notch yet (rebuilding phase) so I was expecting to have to pay the deposits.

Two things I found odd. I was expecting to have to pay all the deposits up front. Turns out both gas and electric just put them on your first bill. So really it's just kind of like prepaying your service, kind of like you do with the cable company. Anyway, the gas company said they were going to charge me $110 and the electric company is charging $75. No problem. Like I said, I expected it.

Then the other thing was I called the water company. They did want the deposit up front. $500. I swallowed hard and gave them my bank card. It was weird to me because they didn't ask for anything but my name and the new address, so they couldn't have run a credit check. Is that their standard deposit? I just wondered why it was so much more than the gas or electric deposits? Is there gold in the water?

[Raiderman]

We went through this.. for each utility, they have an autopay feature which will debit your account monthly automatically. We had all deposits waived by agreeing to autopay for 1 year.

[MAXIALE02]

$500 for water deposit?? We'll you are in the desert. I've never had to pay that much. Maybe there was a rate increase on deposits due to out of town landlords stiffing them with unpaid accounts. When we were renting out our home I had an access account to make sure our tenant was paying the bill. LOVED it! We're moving back into the house in a month and I suspect our deposit will be waived due to us owning the home and our payment history. Being local has its privileges.

[xafpilot]

Depending on your credit rating you may or may not have to pay a deposit to the various utilities. If you have excellent credit, you will not be required to pay a deposit.

[Raiderman]

Originally Posted by xafpilot

Depending on your credit rating you may or may not have to pay a deposit to the various utilities. If you have excellent credit, you will not be required to pay a deposit.

Not correct. We hwere required to pay a small deposit, as we had never had an account with the utility company out here, not due to credit (according to the person who set up the account). It was either gas or water, can't quite remember.

[ScoopLV]

I didn't pay a deposit for anything. They simply turned on my lights, water and gas and that was that. Homeowner vs. renter might also come into play.

[lvoc]

I have done this a good bit for my own accounts or clients. Never heard or seen anything near $500. The normal measure is a month or twos billing maximum.
I would talk to them some more. Particularly on an owner occupied house. Maybe go up a level. That is not reasonable.

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by lvoc

I have done this a good bit for my own accounts or clients. Never heard or seen anything near $500. The normal measure is a month or twos billing maximum.
I would talk to them some more. Particularly on an owner occupied house. Maybe go up a level. That is not reasonable.

What he said. $500 is nuts unless it's an existing home that has problems in the past, or a new house with a big pool to fill.

[RonL1949]

I am going to rent when I move to Las Vegas. I have rented before & I don't even do the cleaning because 90% of the time one does not get back a cleaning deposit. Some of the reasons I heard even on a walk threw are 1 the door nobs on the door were dirty, kitchen needed better cleaning, floor needed better cleaning ect. other reasons to keep the deposit, we bring in a professional cleaning crew. I just gave up trying to get any cleaning deposits back.

[von949]

Originally Posted by MAXIALE02

$500 for water deposit?? We'll you are in the desert. I've never had to pay that much. Maybe there was a rate increase on deposits due to out of town landlords stiffing them with unpaid accounts. When we were renting out our home I had an access account to make sure our tenant was paying the bill. LOVED it! We're moving back into the house in a month and I suspect our deposit will be waived due to us owning the home and our payment history. Being local has its privileges.

This town is so transit that utility companies should offer incentives for long time locals.