Ratio Utility Billing Systems (San Marcos, Hays: apartments, lease, tenant)

[L210]

I'm not well-versed in tenant laws. Does anyone know if Texas (or San Marcos or Hays County) has any laws regarding Ratio Utility Billing Systems?

When I moved into my apartment, I did not know their were no individual meters for the units. The lease did not explain how water bills would be calculated. I found out later that they split up the water bills and base them on the size of the unit. I'm a single person, but I live in one of the larger 2-bedroom units in the complex because I wanted a fenced patio for my dog. I pay more for my water than 2, 3, or 4 people living in a smaller 2-bedroom unit. Also, some of the 2-bedroom units have a washer and dryer, but mine does not. So, not only do I pay more for water than units that have more people, but I also pay more than the people who have washers in their units. On top of that, I have to pay even more to wash my laundry in the laundromat.

From the little research I've done, most RUBS use a combination of square footage and number of people in the unit to calculate water bills. Solely basing a water bill on square footage sounds completely stupid to me.

[L210]

I think I found the applicable laws, but I'm not sure if they're up to date. I know water billing regulations are now handled by PUC instead of TCEQ, but the regulations remained the same.
https://www.tceq.texas.gov/assets/pu...dflib/291h.pdf

[ilikeme]

That is a pretty common way to bill for water in older apartments that do not have meters for every unit. I have lived in apartments that did this. I have never heard of paying more for the laundromat though because of the apartment size.