scrUTILITY Company

[cozzafrenzy]

So I've just gone and switched to Easymax for an up/down bungalow rental. Shortly after making the change I get a bill from Enmax showing that I now owe nearly $1000 for water and wastewater disposal! Yikes!!

I call Enmax and ask what gives and it turns out that I have not been being billed for the water / waste water portions of my utils for the last 7 months.



Now I do realize that obviously I should have been paying better attention to what the amounts on the utils said, but WTF (wow thats fantastic ) do I do now? Do I try to have the tenants pay? break it down monthly? Suck it up and call it a learning experience?



signed,

not pleased with

 

[dplummer]

Does your lease allow you to charge your tenants for this?If not you'll have to chalk it up to experience. If it does you'll have to work it out with the tenants. Not their fault.

Doug

 

[moparcanuck]

I had a similar problem with my personal residence. I switched to EasyMax in the summer, and signed up for automatic withdrawls. No fuss, no muss, don't have to worry about anything. Around December, I got thinking and checked back in my records. I hadn't been billed, or amounts withdrawn, in nearly 4 months. I called EasyMax and they determined that yep, they screwed up. Got hit with a $1000 gas/power bill (not a huge problem as it was money I owed, but still......ouch)

 

[2ndstory]

Seems like that is the cost of doing business. Not sure what your issue is. Is it having to pay that large amount all at once? If you owe it, you owe it. You might be able to work out a payment schedule or something so that you aren't hit all at once. Try and find that out. Other than that, make sure there are no leaky taps in your building and that the toilets are low flush or possiblly dual flush and showerheads are conservative. That should help keep future costs down.



Nik

 

[cozzafrenzy]

The tenants have been paying the utilities but I guess my concern is that there may be an uproar when i tell them/show them they owe me $1000. I can pay the bill up front no problem but should I try and have the tenants pay it back to me in monthly installments or should I eat this for now/split it with them? Ideas?

 

[2ndstory]

Oh, I see. Any time I have tenants paying utitlities, I have them pay it directly to the utitility company. If it is their responsibility to pay the utility, then they should pay it. I would explain the situation and then tell them the bad news first. Then assure them that you as the landlord are not going to stick them with that bill all at once despite the fact that it is their responsibility. Then give them a couple options. Monthly payments, or if they pay it in one lump some you will knock off 10% or 15%.



Nik