Tenant's water bill doubled a few months ago, they called city to look for leak. Nothing found. Next month's bill is normal. Following month, bill has doubled again. She called city again. This time they find a leak on house side of meter. This is when landlord is notified of any issue. Landlord calls plumber. Plumber goes out, finds nearby tree roots compromised lines from meter to house. Dig line called to mark utility lines. Work is to be done this Monday. Tenant decides to hold back $150 in rent this month to cover for the higher than normal water bills. Can they do this? Is landlord responsible for the higher bills between the time the problem is found and fixed?

Here's a little more detail. I was notified by the tenant on Sept 20 (Monday) that there was a leak. I called a plumber who's done work for me within minutes of being notified. I did not authorize or know the tenant had contacted the city to investigate a water leak, nor been told of a high water bill. Plumber went out on the 22nd (wednesday. I tried to call them the 24th (Friday), but they had phone issues and could not get incoming or outgoing calls. I spoke with them on the 27th (Monday). They contacted the dig line right after. On Oct 1 (Friday) I was told that the utility lines had been marked and they could fix the leak and that they were going out next Monday, Oct 4th. Tenant had texted twice since the 22nd asking for an update and I provided the information I had, but said I could not dictate the urgency or schedule of the dig line folks.

It's not even been 2 weeks since I've been aware of this and tenant wants to charge back 2 months of water bills. Holding back $150 is more than they admit the 2 water bills are.

NC LL,

I just did one of these.

THe bill being high then normal then high could be the meter reading process. In MY town if they cannot access the meter (snow, car parked over the meter...) they ESTIMATE the bill - an average from former months.

Be aware there is another high bill coming - all the water that was running after the last meter reading and until you get it fixed, plus their normal consumption.

In MY town the bill arrives 10-14 days after the reading so hold on to your hat.

THIS is a major reason for not having utils in the LL's name. Let the res battle it out with the util co.

BUT...I would offer some compensation to cover the maintenance issue that created the bill. Too early to negotiate that yet. The final bill has not arrived.

Another: in MY town the water and sewer are billed together. If I supply a written notice from the plumber AND a photo of the repaired pipe MY util will deduct most of the sewer portion of the bill,, as long as we demonstrate the water went into the ground and NOT into the sewer system.

BRAD

I totally understand your frustration.

I would ask your tenant for a copy of this months water bill. I would then deduct those costs from the rent, pro-rated from Sept. 20th. Write it on their rental paperwork.

As the LL it is your responsibility to have the leak fixed and pay for it, but only the actual costs. Explain to the tenant that you were not notified until Sept. 20th, again.

Because the work will be done on Monday you have not received the bill for the work, so when you do, make a copy or explain the expense to your tenant.

It seems odd to me that the city didn't find the leak and also that it stopped.

Let us know what the work cost, please, as I am curious.

Around here, you can request one bill adjustment per year due to leaks. After you show proof that it has been fixed (either a receipt from the store to show you bought the supplies yourself, or a bill from your plumbers that you've paid to fix it), they'll look at your average usage and then split the difference, because it never went into the sewer.

There might be something similar to that where you are.

Sounds more like OTHER issues are clouding your judgment on decisions. First question does your water company allow a reduced bill when the tenant or owner shows the leak has been fixed? Here we send a copy of the repair to the tenant and they are told ask the water authority for an adjustment. Once the adjustment is made-- then we will refund extra or overage.

This is pretty important if you want to maintain control. Tenants can not decide how much to NOT SEND IN FOR RENT.

Sounds like the tenant is trying to take advantage of you. Even though there was a leak, the tenant STILL had water for their use, so the full amount of the water bill is not all due to the leak. It's a simple matter to check the normal useage verses the extra useage the leak caused. I'd compare the useage in those 2 months and make an adjustment.

Other than that, I agree with what MYOB says. Tenant pays full amount and you refund what you consider right. Again, the tenant had full water during the time.

First off, the tenant can NOT reduce the rent. This is a lease violation and your lease if it is similar to most in NC should have language like this.

Tenant shall pay the Rent, without notice, demand or deduction, to Landlord or as Landlord directs

17. Tenant's Breach:

a. Events Constituting Breach: It shall constitute a breach of this Agreement if Tenant fails to:

i. pay the full amount of rent herein reserved as and when it shall become due hereunder; or

Now in practice, you are on the hook to repair the leak. It's not the tenant's fault. At least here in my town, the water department will reduce the bill for the leak if you can provide documentation that it has been repaired.

I'd work with the tenant and the city to make them whole.

The rent deduction thing would require a calm talking to unless they wish to be homeless.

Here where I am, my utilities company covers all services: electric, gas, water, and waste water. There is also a basic service charge for each separate utility on the same bill.

Are the utilities in the tenants name and they receive the bill themselves?

The utilities company here will not give me the amount of the utilities bill in someone else's name even though I am listed as manager.

How do you know how much her bill is?

If the tenant receives the bill, I would ask for a copy of the last 12 bills and then wait for a copy of the next bill after the repair is made. Then I would look at there average bill for water usage minus any basic service charge that they would have to pay anyway.

The utilities company here will also reduce the extra charge on sewer if there was a leak and you prove repair as the waste water usage is gauged by the water usage.

I would inform the tenant that you not told of the problem originally and that they need to inform you of any problems in the beginning as this could have already been resolved. I would also tell the tenant that she owes the full rent as usual and that you will provide a copy of the repair receipt to/for her to tern in to the utilities company for a credit to her bill. If there are any other adjustments that need to be made after that, that the utilities company would not adjust for, then I would send her a separate check for that, or I could give a credit for her next rent payment.

This is a little tough but I can certainly see the tenant's perspective, not methodology.

I suggest you approach the city - really really nice - and ask them to reduce the excess on the bill. I've seen this work with a municipal water utility but never a private utility.

THank you all for your suggestions. I'm not a professional landlord, just renting a home that was my personal home, turned into rental when I moved and bought another house out of the area.

I have erred in renting to someone I know. She is the daughter of my neighbors who helped me out many times when I lived there. I let her move in without last and a security. I've learned a few things along the way, and once I am out of a lease with her, I'm going to use a management company.

The leak is not far from the meter. It is due to tree roots. My plumber is supposed to take out tree (not that large) and fix pipes Monday. I only was advised there was a problem on Sept 20th, so technically not even a month's bill has gone by.

I will contact the City about getting a reduction by showing the bill. THank you all for suggesting that. She had a bill for 98.74, says normal is 41-43. THis new bill is 98.32. So in her thinking she was allowed to deduct $150 from her rent.

Do you have a written lease with her?

If so, what does it say?

If not, what was your verbal agreement?

Average the bill over a few months prior to the leak. Compare that to the current and future bills.

Rebate the difference to her and toss in $50.00 for letting you know about the leak and for the bother shes been through.

Then move on with your life.

Any future lease should have a clause that all official communication is in writing and that oral communication is non binding and does not take precedent over the written lease.

Is the number of days in each billing cycle the same?

There is no verbal 2 yr lease agreement. She just made that up. We have not talked on the phone since Nov 2019, when she called me about renting the house.

She has made 23 monthly payments. This month is 1 of the 23, but since she paid $150 less, I counted it as on time for this example, but after the 5th it will be late since she didn't pay the full rent. 9 of them have been late. I have texted her after the 5th asking where rent was. Only twice has she initiated in telling me rent would be late.

Not only did I let her move in without security and a last month rent, but I gave her at least $100 off what I could have charged in rent. Rents in this area have skyrocketed and I now could get $300 more.

What does NC law say about this?

In CA when the lease is up tenancy goes to month to month.

I'm not sure of the law, I haven't had a real good chance to research it. There's no way she can prove a verbal 2 yr lease. Our call logs would show we've not even talked since Nov 2019.

To further complicate this, we do not have a written lease. It expired Nov 30, 2020. I sent a text in Oct 2020 stating I would send a years renewal with same terms as prior lease, and she stated she wanted to stay another year, but a written lease was never completed.

Your local landlord group or a NC real estate attorney can answer this question.

YOU DON'T HAVE A WRITTEN LEASE?!?!!!!

you are way out of your depth. Written rental agreements are required for tenancies for 12 months or longer in North Carolina.

Tell her you are going to sell the house and she needs to move out by X date. If she gives you a problem hire a lawyer because you are way way way way out of your knowledge level.

bless your heart.

Yes, we did have a written lease from Nov 19 to Nov 20. I offered a renewal in Oct 20. It was at that point that a formal written renewal was not followed up with. Mea culpa for sure. Per NC law, yes we are month to month. Unless the court would consider the text exchange where I offered and she agreed to a year renewal. Either way, Ive advised her that after Nov 21 she cannot live there and i am not renewing any lease.

I"ve spoken with a couple prop mgrs in the area. One was willing to help me with getting her out. They also confirmed what I thought, that the tenant withholding rent money to refund for a month's high water bill is not legal. Tenant has till Oct 5th to pay remaining $150 due on Oct rent. I am willing to provide the City my repair bill if they will refund a portion of the water bills, but I'm not feeling like I need to help her after her taking advantage of me for so long.

I didn't get my bill right away and promised to update this thread.

My bill was $441. I didn't think that was too bad. I still have to deal with the tree that sprouted up that grew into the water lines.

I have hired a property manager. Renting to someone I knew turned into a disaster. I gave this girl all kinds of concessions, and she's just taken advantage of me since the start. She has til Nov 30th to move out, which gave her 60 days notice. At first she was argumentative with prop mgr, but now she's ignoring their calls to inspect the property. It may take some time to get her out, but I'm just glad I don't have to deal with her anymore.