Utilities Split?

[jarrettvaughan]

In you expereince, what have been the most effective ways to split utilities for a suited property and who should actually pay the bill? I realize that it is up to me to set up my own arrangements but i am interested to see how others have done it.

Does the upstairs tenant hold the utility in his name or should it be in my name?
Does the basement tenent pay the upstairs tenant for their share (50%?)?
Do you base the split on the amount of square footage in each unit or just a basic 50 - 50 split?

I am interested to hear your ideas and thank you for your help.

 

[Grant]

Hi Jarrett,

Where I am staying, we split the utilities 4 ways (there are 4 of us, all students). There are 2 upstairs and 2 downstairs. Those upstairs pay slightly higher rent but the utilities are split down the middle (well, four ways).